

Rather than a lack of specialists, I think doctors are badly distributed. On average, there are two to three doctors per 1,000 inhabitants. However, in cases like Mexico City, the concentration of doctors can be three times higher than in other regions. This disparity should be addressed not only by universities but also through the National Health System. Around 8,000 doctors graduate from a specialty in Mexico every year but the available university placements are determined based on hospitals’ vacancies instead of the actual needs of the national population. Ideally, the government should have a way of organizing the country’s local and national health needs to have a clear idea of how many doctors and specialists are required by state, which would make it easier to distribute them.