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27% of the state's population lives in rural areas.

A new report by the Missouri Hospital Association said there aren't enough rural doctors out there.

KRCG's Meghan Lane found out what's been done to get doctors interested in working off the beaten path.

It's Friday’s Facebook story of the day.

Experts said there are a number of reasons doctors stay inside city limits: more technology, more people and more money.

"A lot of medical students come out of their training with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt,” Missouri Hospital Association spokesman Dave Dillon said.

The Missouri Hospital Association's report said on average in Missouri metropolitan areas there is of one primary care physician for every 962 residents while on the other hand, in rural areas there is one primary care physician for every 1,776 residents.

Rural doctors oversee almost double the amount of patients metropolitan physicians do.

"By comparison to urban areas, rural areas have fewer primary care physicians,” Dillon said. “They tend to be older and they are technically more efficient, they provide services to more patients, they work longer hours and ironically, they make less money."

But Dr. Kathleen Quinn with the University of Missouri School of Medicine said students decide between metro and rural areas based on lifestyle.

"It's more about lifestyle, giving back to the community that they grew up in or that they've been exposed to through training programs," Quinn said.

The University of Missouri school of medicine has a rural track pipeline program.

"We have multiple longitudinal programs throughout medical school that train students with our community based faculty in rural areas that influence them or encourage their decision to practice in rural areas," Quinn said.

The report said as health care reform increases access for the currently uninsured, rural Missouri will be hard pressed to provide care to even more people since they are already lacking physicians.

The Missouri Hospital Association said rural communities not only need physicians for health care services but also for the economic support.

The National Center for Rural Health Works found that one primary care physician working in a rural area generates $1.2-million in annual revenue and creates 23 jobs.