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Opinion: As the need for organ transplants grows, the number of transplant physicians dwindles

Medical training has been long been characterized as a "grand bargain" in which trainees make personal sacrifices with the expectation of a better life later. But that's a deal many…
Source: Molly Riley/AP

During the 25 years I’ve been a transplant doctor, I’ve cared for hundreds of patients who received lung transplants. I’m now worried about the growing number of people who will need this lifesaving procedure in the future but who won’t have enough transplant physicians to do it.

At any given time in the U.S., about are waiting for the call that they’ve been matched with a donor for a new lung, heart, liver, or kidney. That number will continue to rise, but the number of doctors to take the 2 a.m. call that a donor has been found for their patient and perform the

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