Interesting insight into becoming a doctor in America

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://qz.com/67304/i-just-finished-my-87-hour-work-week-and-have-230000-in-medical-school-debt/

[4everwarriors]

All for the right to have government and private insurance companies dictate your fees. The liability issue in treatin' patients is overwhelmin' as well. "Doctor, why is it so expensive when I come to your office?"

[ChicosBailBonds]

We are going to have a major doctor shortage in this country, especially in rural areas because of how expensive it is to become one and how expensive it is to remain one.

[mu-rara]

We are going to have a major doctor shortage in this country, especially in rural areas because of how expensive it is to become one and how expensive it is to remain one.

What a surprise....NOT.

[Ellisium]

We are going to have a major doctor shortage in this country, especially in rural areas because of how expensive it is to become one and how expensive it is to remain one.

Becoming a doctor has always had high upfront costs.  This is nothing new.  It's been this way for years.  My father is a doctor and didn't pay off most of his debts until around age 40, I believe.  The article only mentions the tough road it takes to get there.  When you start making 200+ grand a year, things get much easier.  It's a sacrifice.

As far as shortages go related to the financial factor, there's no correlation.  Medical schools are still turning away applicants.  Plus, technology is going to eliminate more doctor visits.  Prime example ...... flu shots being available at local pharmacies now which eliminates doctor's visits.  What does the future bring in terms of technology that will help eliminate doctor visits ...... here's a look:  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/13/revolutionary-blood-test-created-by-planets-youngest-female-billionaire/

[Coleman]

The answers are easy. Universal free education. Universal free health care.

Next issue?

[jficke13]

The answers are easy. Universal free education. Universal free health care.

Next issue?

Free everything for everyone.

[Coleman]

Free everything for everyone.

Not everything. Just education and healthcare. And I even have the answer of where we can get the money from....



"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final

sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.

It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.

It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)

[Groin_pull]

Not everything. Just education and healthcare. And I even have the answer of where we can get the money from....



"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final

sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.

It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.

It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)

Who's this Eisenhower guy? What a commie pinko hippie.

[brandx]

The answers are easy. Universal free education. Universal free health care.

Next issue?

I agree that education should be available to all. But how about another system? Instead of these kids borrowing, sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars, how about a system where in return for their education, they pay back 1% or 1.5 % of future income each year to cover the cost of college expenses.

[Ellisium]

I agree that education should be available to all. But how about another system? Instead of these kids borrowing, sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars, how about a system where in return for their education, they pay back 1% or 1.5 % of future income each year to cover the cost of college expenses.

How about a more efficient system of delivery for education?  Increase the number of AP courses in high school which effectively eliminates classes you have to pay for in college.  For those who want more technical training, offer more of those classes in high school.  There's a start. 

Ohhhh...  and eliminate those bloodsucking online universities you see on TV late at night.  The people who sign up for those just give themselves more debt.  It's the strong preying on the weak. 

[Coleman]

I agree that education should be available to all. But how about another system? Instead of these kids borrowing, sometimes, hundreds of thousands of dollars, how about a system where in return for their education, they pay back 1% or 1.5 % of future income each year to cover the cost of college expenses.

totally agree, at least for private universities. I'd even argue it should be more like 10-15% of income (could be a sliding scale, like taxes), for maybe 10 years or so.

I will stick to my assertion that state universities should be free, or very close to free. If Germany can do it (http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/10/germany_college_is_free_there_even_for_foreign_students_why.html), so can we.

[jesmu84]

We are going to have a major doctor shortage in this country, especially in rural areas because of how expensive it is to become one and how expensive it is to remain one.

Thus the opening for PAs and NPs. And those are being produced in huge numbers, and growing.

[jesmu84]

Lot of dangerous socialist ideas in this thread

[Hards Alumni]

Lot of dangerous socialist ideas in this thread

Lmao no.  Dangerous no.  Socialist maybe.

Problem is too many kids going to school. 

And doctors in rural areas was going to reduce regardless of the ADA

[ChicosBailBonds]

The answers are easy. Universal free education. Universal free health care.

Next issue?

Nothing is free, ever.  No such thing is free....not in the real world.


Now, having said that I have for many years believed as a society we provide potential doctors with low interest or partially forgiven student debts for reaching certain levels of service.  More forgiveness if you put X years in communities that need doctors, etc. 

I disagree strongly with the other post about it always being expensive to become a doctor in this country.  The costs of lawsuits, specialization, etc are much higher in real and percentage terms now and have been problematic for the last few decades.  Throw in reimbursement nightmares for Medicare, etc....there's a reason why the majority of physicians don't support the newest policies and a reason why doctors are bailing out early.

It's going to be a major problem in terms of access if we don't address it.

[Coleman]

Now, having said that I have for many years believed as a society we provide potential doctors with low interest or partially forgiven student debts for reaching certain levels of service.  More forgiveness if you put X years in communities that need doctors, etc. 

I sort of agree with you on something, I'll take it when I can get it!

And of course nothing is really free. It's a matter of our priorities as a society.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I sort of agree with you on something, I'll take it when I can get it!

And of course nothing is really free. It's a matter of our priorities as a society.

And who is paying for it, and who isn't.  Lots of people are really good at not spending their own money, but cannot wait to spend someone else's.  You want to fix some of these problems...EVERYONE pays.  EVERYONE has skin in the game.  Not 53%, not 25%...EVERYONE.

[Coleman]

And who is paying for it, and who isn't.  Lots of people are really good at not spending their own money, but cannot wait to spend someone else's.  You want to fix some of these problems...EVERYONE pays.  EVERYONE has skin in the game.  Not 53%, not 25%...EVERYONE.

I have skin in the game. Don't make assumptions about me based on my views. I probably pay much more in federal income taxes than you think, and I certainly have paid more into the system over the course of my life than I have taken out (driving on federal highways and subsidized student loans, is pretty much all I can think of). My money is getting spent one way or the other. I would just rather it be spent domestically, on education and healthcare, than on weapons. I would happily have the poor spend my money, rather than it line the pockets of the executives and shareholders of Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Priorities.

[mu-rara]

I sort of agree with you on something, I'll take it when I can get it!

And of course nothing is really free. It's a matter of our priorities as a society.

Problem is, you never want to prioritize.

Milwaukee will spend $193 million on a streetcar in MKE, plus various infrastructure $$ to accommodate that?  This is a large spend for very little utility.  What else could that $$ be spent on to solve real problems?

[brandx]

Problem is, you never want to prioritize.

Milwaukee will spend $193 million on a streetcar in MKE, plus various infrastructure $$ to accommodate that?  This is a large spend for very little utility.  What else could that $$ be spent on to solve real problems?

I agree with you, rara. Let's see the ROI on building the streetcar. It may add to the esthetic value of Milwaukee (which I am all for), but it still has to return some significant monetary value.

As opposed to a new arena, which could spur a billion $$$ investment by private companies in the city (although we still need to see concrete plans).

[tower912]

In Germany, doctors average the equivalent of $100k in salary or so.   But they graduate debt free and don't have to worry about malpractice, as long as they follow reasonable protocols.   The US continues to be the only industrialized nation where health care is for profit.   

[Coleman]

Problem is, you never want to prioritize.

Milwaukee will spend $193 million on a streetcar in MKE, plus various infrastructure $$ to accommodate that?  This is a large spend for very little utility.  What else could that $$ be spent on to solve real problems?

Where did I ever advocate for a streetcar? Quit building strawmen.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

We are going to have a major doctor shortage in this country, especially in rural areas because of how expensive it is to become one and how expensive it is to remain one.

If there aren't enough doctors in rural areas, don't live in a rural area.

I know this is an over-simplified view, but seriously, sometimes we create problems for things when there is already a solution.

[Pakuni]

If there aren't enough doctors in rural areas, don't live in a rural area.

I know this is an over-simplified view, but seriously, sometimes we create problems for things when there is already a solution.

Fact is, there's been a shortage of doctors in rural areas for about as long as they've tracked such thing, at least inasmuch as we view the number of doctors in urban areas as the "right" amount.
Also fact is that the number of rural doctors per 100,000 people in rural areas has remained relatively flat since the 1940s. What's changed is the number of doctors in urban areas, which has risen significantly.