WASHINGTON — Data from the US Census bureau, found that doctor’s hours declined while at the same time their incomes dropped 25 percent between 1995 and 2006 In the U.S., doctors are known for working extraordinarily long hours, seeing patients in the office and then at the hospital. But in the last decade American doctors have been either retiring or putting in shorter work weeks while fewer Americans are entering medical school. There’s a shortage of students in American medical schools and that is one of the issues. In recent years, U.S. medical colleges have graduated an insufficient number of students. Experts say the United States needs at least 50,000 more doctors, and if nothing is done about it there could be a shortage of 200,000 by the year 2025. The drop in the number of physicians is acute in rural areas. In addition, there are two growing segments of the population in greater need of medical care: the elderly and the uninsured, largely made up of immigrants and the poor. So, if there’s a huge demand for medical services, why aren’t doctors putting in longer hours? Professor Douglas Staiger of Dartmouth […]