Arizona struggling to keep doctors in state

Arizona Republic, July 1, 2010

A new batch of medical residents begins training at hospitals across Arizona today, but getting enough to stay to offset the state's physician shortage remains a challenge. Despite efforts to expand residency programs and increase retention rates around Arizona hospitals, more than a third to nearly half of the medical residents like Striegel are expected to leave eventually to practice elsewhere.The ratio of physicians to population in Arizona is "far below" the national average, according to a 2005 study on the physician workforce by Arizona State University's Center for Health Information.