The Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee's (GMENAC) report on the present and future supply and requirements of physicians by specialty and geographic location is provided. Part I presents a listing of Panel recommendations and options for addressing the problem, while Part II presents an introduction to this report. Part III summarizes Charge 1--a description of the underlying problem, a literature review of physician location factors, a representation of data by specialty by county, and recommendations for further efforts at data collection. Part IV summarizes Charges 2 and 3, detailing empirical evidence of variations in per capita expenditures and rates of surgical procedures. It also reviews the literature on procedure rate variation studies, providing implications of the variations for manpower policy. Criteria for acceptable levels of equity and access using the indicators of physician to population ratios and travel times to service are presented in Part V. Problems of data utilization, as well as recommendations for the level of geographic analysis that should be employed, are also expanded on in Part V. Part VI summarizes Charges 4, 5, and 6 linking the work of the Geographic Distribution Panel with that of the Financing, Nonphysician Provider, and Educational Environment Panels, and presents a taxonomy of "strategies" or programs that might be implemented to address distributional and access problems. Strengths and weaknesses of the past, present, and potential programs are discussed, as well as extensive documentation on each of the mechanisms. Among the 31 recommendations made by the Panel are: serious attention should be given to making available to physicians their utilization rate experiences relative to the norms of other physicians practicing in their immediate region, area, or in the nation; economic incentives and/or the provision of higher payment levels for service as an inducement for physicians to practice in underserved areas should be explored; and the effectiveness of government loan and scholarship programs should be cataloged and evaluated. A review of the literature on physician distribution is appended. (Autor/LC)