Jenny, your niece, is a smart high-school student who wants to make intelligent choices for her future. Hearing of your course in business economics, she has e-mailed you asking for advice on whether to become a doctor and on the best location to practice it. She recognizes the high costs of tuition and the years of study involved in becoming a doctor. She wants to evaluate if that career choice is an optimal decision for her, so she has asked you for advice.

Having read the piece "Fewer Physicians Move, a Sign of Career Caution" on page 20 of the textbook, you recognize the significance of such a career decision for Jenny. You decide to educate yourself about the market for physicians in terms of supply and demand, elasticity, costs of production, pricing, and economic or normal profit or loss. You want to provide Jenny with the most informed advice possible.