3 ms·
That's not a hierarchy thing. Docs are the chokepoint in the process. Overseers track very carefully how much time you spend, how productive you are, etc. and
by arkades 10y ago
That's not a hierarchy thing.
Docs are the chokepoint in the process. Overseers track very carefully how much time you spend, how productive you are, etc. and surround you with lower-wage employees to do every last thing except those responsibilities that you, by law, have sole power to do.
My buddies are in latter years of residency and no one works <90 hrs/wk (including paperwork they have to finish when they get home, 'cause otherwise they'd never see their families). And that's despite running around like their hair is on fire. I assure you, it's not voluntary.
- peferron 10y agoWhy are there so few doctors in the USA that they need a whole system around them to ensure they spend < 5 min in front of each patient?
- arkades 10y agoAfter you graduate medical school you are required to undergo post-graduate education to receive your license. This post-graduate education system hasn't had an expansion of slots in over 20 years (the Balanced Budget Act of '96 put a frozen cap on the number of funded positions.) A number of positions are unfunded, and hospitals are trying to actively eliminate those (rather than grow the pool of physicians to meet demand.) The actual amount paid out for these slots has been repeatedly cut into as well, as part of various political wranglings. New med schools are opening every day, but they're an irrelevancy when the chokepoint is actually getting narrower. Additionally, docs are just the most expensive staff members. It's bad business to have someone who costs $10/hr doing work someone else can do for $5/hr. Hospital CFOs don't care if it makes patients feel like shit, and doctors feel like shit; they don't want to pay out the marginal $/hr.