The real reason there is a doctor shortage...

[TZ]

Its cause the AMA carefully controlls the number of doctors that graduate because you know they don't want to flood the market and therefore lower salaries for their members..How do I know? I learned it in GD!
You know it has nothing to do with medical school being...ya know...hard...I mean taking the MCAT and having to know biology, chemistry,biochemistry and physics...why thats not hard...A homeopath can get an online degree in 6 months...so how hard could it REALLY be.....:banghead:

[Orrex]

1. I thought that the doctor shortage...

was the result of so many physicos getting super-rich off of their kickbacks from big pharma. You see, they take home a few seven-digit bonuses, then they retire to a tropical island somewhere, leaving a dearth behind them.

[Warpy]

2. Well, it's partially true. Med schools have to jump through so

many hoops for accreditation that their numbers are limited. Spaces in them are limited. Competition for those spaces is intense, and the biggest dunderhead in the class usually has twice what it takes upstairs to be a star in nearly any other graduate program. The guys who go offshore to med schools in Central America and the Caribbean are also incredibly bright, and usually lost out on US med schools through not being a legacy or not being a joiner of extracurricular activities that look good on a resume while having nothing to do with medicine.

Part of the reason for the doctor shortage is unreasonably high barriers to foreign doctors who want to practice here. Another is the exorbitant cost of medical school. Still another is the length of time it takes to educate a doctor in the US, ridiculously long by any measure. Still another is the fact that a bright person can get out of school years earlier and far more cheaply and make more money in another field.

The doctor shortage we have here is due to a misallocation of docs into specialties instead of the more poorly paid family practice, and the misallocation of docs concentrated into urban areas rather than rural areas where the pay is poorer. Both of these problems are mostly attributable to the amount of debt the average newly minted M.D. is in. They can't afford to be small town docs because that won't pay the debt down.

We're also just beginning to see another problem emerge: docs are quitting bedside practice because the system is making that practice impossible. I have lost several excellent docs to desk jobs simply because the system of having to argue with insurance company bean counters for everything has worn them down and worn them out.

Personally, I'd like to see the whole business reflect the way docs are educated in Europe through intensive 5-6 year programs. Obviously, the whole thing needs to be subsidized; it's unreasonable to expect someone to start practice as a family physician $200,000 in debt. I'd also like to see foreign docs be admitted to practice here more easily.

A complete turnaround in our system that focuses it on keeping us alive and well instead of containing costs to maximize profit is also vital.

[jberryhill]

3. That's why I like foreign doctors...

...I know they had to try harder.