Trends in the supply of physicians in the United States and in the South are reviewed, along with physician distribution, retention of medical school graduates, minority physicians, and migration of physicians into the South. During the 1970s and 1980s, the 14 states making up the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region experienced explosive growth in physician supply relative to that of the nation. The region's rate of growth in the number of medical school graduates also surpassed the nation's. There are considerable variations in growth rates among the SREB states and in the distribution of physicians within the states. The more urban states not only had greater increases in the number of physicians, but physicians tended to be better distributed; the predominantly rural states experienced a persistent maldistribution of physicians. Many SREB states need to reassess their medical education needs in view of the South's increased retention of its medical school graduates and increased in-migration of physicians from outside the South. However, minority physicians, particularly black physicians, are underrepresented in relation to the proportion of minority population in the region. Focusing attention on graduate medical education programs and recruiting minority medical students are recommended. (SW)