When I turned 18 and moved on from the pediatrician I’d seen since birth, it marked the last time I had a consistent primary care doctor.
Although I get a yearly physical, it's typically with a new doctor each time, depending on my location, my insurance and which office picks up the phone -- usually after several calls and endless hold music. Timely appointments are tough to come by, so if I need more immediate attention, I'll head to an urgent care.
When I finally do get to see a doctor, more often than not it's a cold, clinical experience in a white cube of a room with a doctor who's a stranger.
Compare that to videos from wellness influencers effortlessly floating across your phone screen, making longevity, happiness, less bloating, glowing skin, fitness, long hair and a strong immune system seem as easy as taking a supplement with your lemon water.
Answers to our pressing medical questions have never been so convenient and alluring.
I'm sure many people can relate to the struggle to find quality health care information and providers. According to a 2023 study by the National Association of Community Health Centers and American Academy of Family Physicians, over 100 million Americans, about one-third of the US population, face barriers to accessing primary care. Even more alarming, this number has almost doubled since 2014.
Dr. Mike Varshavski, known as "Doctor Mike," is a board-certified family medicine physician with over 29 million social media followers. He says multiple factors have contributed to health care's inability to provide people the answers they seek. These include solo practice family medicine physician offices closing or being bought out, fallen reimbursement rates by insurance companies and the administrative burden facing family medicine physicians. Family medicine is one of the lowest-paying specialties, making students less inclined to pursue it.
The obstacles to access primary care also loom larger for women and BIPOC communities, particularly Black women, who are more likely to experience medical gaslighting, making them less likely to trust a doctor in the future.
Trust is a significant difficulty when accessing health care.
"Survey data indicates that trust in institutionalized expertise has been in decline in the US since the 1950s," says Stephanie Alice Baker, associate professor of sociology at City St George's, University of London. "Throughout the late 20th century, a series of scandals involving the pharmaceutical and food industries has sown distrust about the financial and political motives of scientific and medical institutions."
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