Nationwide, there is a shortage of more than 13,000 doctors, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That shortfall is expected to grow 10-fold to 130,000 doctors within 12 years as the U.S. population ages and 30 million more people are added to insurance. In the Las Vegas area, patients and doctors said it can take six months to see a primary-care doctor for a simple check-up. For more serious matters, the waits are far longer. For example, to get an appointment with a neurologist who specializes in autism, it could take more than a year.
