Physical Wellness

Best State to Practice Medicine Is In Iowa: Here's How Trump’s Immigration Policy Harms America’s Hospitals [VIDEO]

By Regina Finch | Update Date: Mar 28, 2017 10:25 AM EDT

A study ranked the best and worst states in America to practice medicine in, with the best state to be a doctor is in Iowa and the worst is in New York. Iowa's standing came from high average annual wages for physicians and the cheapest annual malpractice liability insurance. New York, in contrast, has the toughest competition among physicians and is among the states offering the lowest average yearly wage for doctors.

Iowa got a total score of 68.67 percent on the study about the best states to practice medicine in, which came from finance website WalletHub. It was followed by Minnesota (66.40 percent), Idaho (66.31 percent), Wisconsin (65.66 percent) and Kansas (65.15 percent).

The other best states to practice medicine in are South Dakota in the tenth spot with 63.24 percent; Montana at 63.13 percent; Mississippi (62.40 percent); Alabama (61.05 percent) and Tennessee (59.56 percent).

New York only scored 28.49 percent. The states of District of Columbia (33.72 percent), New Jersey (34.48 percent), Maryland (36.45 percent), Rhode Island (36.84 percent) and Massachusetts (37.85 percent) are also considered as the worst places to become a physician in.

By 2024, New York is going to be crowded with physicians that newcomers are going to have a hard time squeezing themselves in. The state offers the most expensive annual malpractice liability insurance. New York has the priciest malpractice award payout amount per capita, too.

Ohio placed at the 39th spot in the best states to practice medicine in the list with its 44.61 percentage. The state is seeing problems in its health systems, specifically in recruiting physicians in specific specialties.

The state admitted that it is experiencing a widespread shortage of physicians that was blamed partially on President Donald Trump's stricter immigration policies. About 25 percent of doctors in the U.S. are foreign-born and recruiting them just got harder now, the Indie Online reported.

The state's rural areas experience the most shortage in primary care physicians. Iowa is also having trouble recruiting doctors specializing in the neurosciences, geriatrics and behavioral health.

The discrepancies are being taken over by nurses and physician assistants, while rural areas are satisfying themselves with specialists' care administered via telemedicine or telecommunications technology. Ohio is competing with other states for primary care physicians, who require less money than specialists.

They are also offering financial incentives to students so they will be convinced to practice their craft in the state's central part and rural areas after they graduate instead of moving to other places.

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