Alabama among top 10 states for doctors to practice

Special to The Times

Doctors are among the highest-paid and most educated professionals in the U.S. Just consider the fact that “physician” is the most popular profession within the top 1 percent of earners.

A recent Wallethub study showed that Alabama is number nine out of 51 states and Washington DC for physicians to practice. Alabama comes just after Mississippi and right before Tennessee. The best state for doctors is Iowa, and the worst state at number 51, is New York. Alabama placed in sixth place for the average annual wage of physicians, and 13^th for the projected number of physicians per capita.

In 2016, the average medical-school graduate left campus with more than $189,000 of debt, but the medical profession has also been undergoing intense transformation in recent years. Health-care reform, the rise of branded hospital networks and the retirement of Baby Boomers are all complicating the lives of doctors and warranting pause from potential whitecoats. Alabama ranked in 20^th place for the projected percent of population aged 65 and older by 2030. The study also looked at other components:

• 13^th– Projected Number of Physicians per Capita by 2024
• 17^th– Punitiveness of State Medical Board
• 28^th– Malpractice Award Payout Amount per Capita
• 10^th– Annual Malpractice Liability Insurance Rate
• 19^th– Current Competition (Number of Physicians per Capita)