I live in a big city. I can't get in for a month.

Can I get an appointment maybe sometime this week to see the doctor?

They're like, no, sorry, we're booked two months in advance.

The numbers show it's becoming a more common occurrence nationwide.

One study found a third of patients say they've been unable to see a doctor in the past year due to availability issues.

And for those who were able to get an appointment, nearly one in five patients had to wait anywhere from one to three months to be seen.

It's incredibly frustrating.

When 26 year old Victoria Holmes faced a four month wait for a neurology appointment in Washington, D.C., where she lives, she sought treatment in her hometown of Dallas, Texas.

I literally have to take the desperate measure of going home to Dallas just to see a neurologist because I'm terrified that there's something wrong with me.

It's a major frustration for both patients and doctors.

We all became physicians to take care of patients, and that is getting tougher every day.

Dr. Bruce Scott is the president of the American Medical Association and an ear, nose and throat physician in Louisville, Kentucky.

Right now, things are at almost crisis level and physicians are literally closing their practices.

Medical professionals say it's the result of a growing population needing health care, along with an aging physician workforce that's burning out, due in part to time consuming administrative paperwork from insurance companies and reduced physician reimbursement.

Some doctors are now turning to concierge services to reduce the number of patients they see, charging hundreds or even thousands of dollars for their care.

Others are passing administrative fees onto patients, forcing many to find new doctors.

I think we're facing even a worsening problem in the future unless something changes.

Now, as for those doctors switching to concierge, the numbers are hard to nail down here.

But estimates are that it's in the thousands. It's still a small percentage of overall doctors practicing medicine, meaning there should be plenty of options out there for those not able to shell out that extra money for the kind of care that we once received without that extra cost.

Guys, questions here. Morgan, thank you.

Let's bring NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres.

So this explains a lot of stuff that there are fewer doctors.

They're retiring earlier. The population is aging.

So what is a person to do? I see those people who are desperate for doctors appointments.

What should they do? So there's a couple of things.

Number one, you have to realize what's happening here.

You know, a couple of things. One, it's not just a specialist, primary care doctors.

It's incredibly hard to get into them in a timely basis.

And so there's a few tips you can do here.

But essentially what I said, Morgan put the nail on the head here.

Essentially, it's a three tiered system now.

It's those that can afford concierge medicine, going to urgent care, those types of things.

Those with private insurance or government sponsored insurance.

And then those, unfortunately, just simply go without.

And so it's important that when you go in there, you do the things you need to do to make it an efficient visit.

So what should some of those things be like? You finally do get in to see your doctor.

How do you make the most out of that? So first and foremost, you want to have a list of what you want, what the questions you want answered and make sure on that list, there's two or three that you absolutely have to get answered before you leave because you might have a limited amount of time.

Use the nurse and the staff to get answers you might not get from the doctor.

Bring in test results. Print them out because the doctor might not have access.

The computer system could have gone down. It could be from a different system.

They don't have those answers. So that way you can get them answered.

And then don't leave the appointment without scheduling your next appointment, because often we say, you know, I'll do it later.

And then you want an appointment in March. You wait until February.

And they say, we can't see you till October. How important is it to actually have a primary care doctor?

I think a lot of people who are young, healthy, you just have an OB.

You don't even have a primary. Is it important? It's extremely important to have a primary care physician.

They are the gatekeepers of everything. And remember the old days where they would come to your house.

They knew your family and everything. We're not at that system right now anymore.

We might go to that, but you need them because they can say you need to see a specialist.

And on some cases, they can do it. They don't necessarily need to send you to somebody.

I think your point is important because you're often rushed in those visits because they're stacking up more patients because there are fewer doctors around.

So you really have to be on the ball. Exactly.

And like I said, just write those questions down, be your own advocate, and make sure you get the two to three most important ones answered.

Take a list of your medications, too, and all the dosing.

So just in case they don't know that or you're going to see somebody else, you get those questions answered.

Can you get into a neurologist? Like those are desperate measures.

There's a lot of patients that can't get in to see the doctors they need to.

And this is a system that unfortunately is continuing to get worse and worse.

And hopefully we find a solution here soon.

Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Dr. Torres. Thank you.

Hey, thanks for watching.

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