Opinion: California needs more than medical schools to solve doctor shortage

California doesn’t have enough doctors. This year, the state met just 54% of its primary care needs. It would take 881 more physicians to eliminate all the state’s designated primary care shortage areas, where more than 5.8 million Californians currently reside.

California’s leaders are trying to conjure up more physicians. In late September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to establish a new medical school with public and private funding in Kern County, which spans Bakersfield and the southern Central Valley.