can also increase the proportion of rural physicians. to address physician shortages in high population growth areas in the united states unfreeze the 1996 graduate medical education (gme) freeze/cap instituted by congress. higher medical school enrollment limits. loosen the requirements for entry to medical school, such as eliminating the need for a pre-med bachelor's degree as required in some jurisdictions, thereby making the education path more attractive for potential students. reduce the costs for students to attend medical school, such as through subsidies for (free or reduced) school tuition and more financial aid. legislate tuition-increase caps for medical schools. increase the role of the national health service corps, which help provide debt-relief opportunities for primary care physicians. improve the political, social and economic conditions in developing countries to prevent brain drain, including fewer wars and conflicts. make better use of other categories of health care professionals, including more nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical officers, community health workers, and others. improve physician wages, such as through privatization of health care systems thereby enhancing market attractiveness for people to become doctors. improve physicians' perspectives of their future career path, such as though reduced use of temporary employment contracts provide better incentives for physicians to practice in underserved areas – for example, in the u.s., this would include expanding incentives for the national health service corps in rural, urban, and suburban areas experiencing shortages. ensure better practice conditions for physicians – for example, medical liability reforms have been cited as an important factor in the u.s. increase the use of e-mail and telephone consultations, which allow physicians to treat patients seeking more traditional forms of care. in the united states, to better accommodate the elderly and their demand for healthcare services, increase medical and nursing training in geriatrics and gerontology. increase use of health care or medical teams (i.e. nurse practitioners and physician assistants) to shift physician workload and allow for increased physician times with patients. global view in the us alone, the association of american medical colleges (aamc) estimates a shortage of 91,500 physicians by 2020 and up to 130,600 by the year 2025. however, a bias would clearly exist in their estimates as expanding medical education serves the direct financial needs of the aamc. as previously mentioned, the world health organization (who) estimates a shortage of 4.3 million physicians, nurses and other health workers worldwide. the who produced a list of countries with a “human resources for health crisis”. in these countries, there are only 1.13 doctors for every 1,000 people, while in the united states, there are approximately 2.5 doctors for every 1,000 people. one quarter of physicians practicing in the united states are from foreign countries. thousands of foreign doctors come to practice in the united states each year while only a few hundred doctors from the united states leave to practice in foreign countries even short-term. there are various organizations that assist united states physicians and others in serving internationally. these organizations may be filling temporary or permanent positions. two temporary agencies are global medical staffing and vista staffing. a locum doctor will serve in the temporary absence of another physician. these positions are typically 1-year placements but can vary by location, specialty, and other factors. agencies that attempt to provide international aid in various ways often have a strong medical component. some of these organizations helping to provide medical care internationally include reach out worldwide (roww), doctors without borders (médecins sans frontières), mercy ships, the us peace corps, and international medical corps. additionally, smaller non-profits that work regionally around the world have also implemented task-shifting strategies in order to increase impact. non profits, such as the minds foundation educated community health workers or teachers to perform simple medicinal tasks, thereby freeing up health professionals to focus on more pressing concerns.