Labor experts say with health care reform likely sometime in the future, an already big shortfall in the number of doctors practicing primary care medicine could grow even larger.

Health Officials say they may have found just the person to fill that gap.

What first began as a way of getting healthcare to rural communities, may now be the future of medicine.

As the number of practicing family doctors falls, the chances of a visit, with someone like Tina Neuendank, are becoming more common.

The nurse practitioner says although she may not have the title of MD, what she can and can't do, is no different than any other family physician.

Tina Neuendank, a family nurse practitioner, says, "We are going to do the same accessment, the sampe appropriate lab test..the same type of treatment."

As more Americans grow older, and with changes to the health care system in the cards, the power of medicine could be in the hand of someone like Neuendank.

She says, "I do see that becoming a driving force behind more and more nurse practitioners, it will probably be even more so as health care reform occurs throughout the county."

Government officials says because of state laws, the practitioners role in the field of medicine may vary from region to region, but one things for sure, they're here to stay.

"With an expected drop in physicians, and climbing healthcare costs, the trend of seeing a nurse practioneer, Is only expected to grow larger.

Health care industry experts say fewer than 10 percent of recent graduating medical students opted for a career as a primary care physician, with many choosing more lucrative specialty fields.