At a cantonal level, Geneva comes out top with 29.3 GPs per 10,000 residents. The worst canton is Schwytz (8.3). Zurich (11), Bern (16.5), Basel (16.6) and Vaud (18) are in between these two extremes.

At a regional level Franches-Montagnes and Lausanne are Switzerland’s extremes. Franches-Montagnes has 4.8 general practitioners (GPs) per 10,000 residents, while Lausanne has 28.7 per 10,000, almost six times more.

Other regions with high numbers of GPs include Aigle (24.7), Sion (21.4), Geneva (20.1), Luzern City (21.5), St. Gallen (20.4), Solothurn City (25.3), Levantina (20.8) and Engadine (22.9). Many of these regions are home to a significant hospital.

At the other end are regions such as Raron (4.4), La Broye (7.7) and Schwytz (7.4).

Switzerland’s GP shortage is set to worsen. 35% of GPs are 60 years old or over. Many are continuing to work after the official retirement age of 65. 24% of doctors are over 65, nearly 14% are 70 or over and 4% over 74.

In some places a vicious cycle has set in. As the pool of GPs shrinks, those left need to work longer hours to keep up with demand, making the job more demanding and less attractive to new comers. Another challenge is convincing medical students to become GPs as the demand and rewards of becoming a specialist rise.

Pierre-Yves Rodondi, a director at the institute of family medicine at the University of Fribourg is critical of the education system. Around 60% of young people wishing to become doctors are eliminated, he said, describing the system as absurd.