4 ms·
Doctors are so highly paid as a function of their scarcity, which is itself a function of the high barriers to entry (intense schooling, selective admissions, h
by kingbirdy 9y ago
Doctors are so highly paid as a function of their scarcity, which is itself a function of the high barriers to entry (intense schooling, selective admissions, high costs). I think the first 2 barriers are necessary to keep quality high, but doing something about the 3rd could help lower costs by increasing the supply of doctors, and I certainly think that's a better solution than being mad at the doctors for accepting a high salary that's offered to them.
- MagnumOpus 9y agoSchooling costs are high because of the length of the program - four years of pre-med, four years of med school. Compare in the UK - five years instead of eight, taking 2 years of pre-clinical courses and 3 years of clinical courses, subsidised to a good extent by the state. UK doctors seem equally skilled, and have minimal student debt. Scarcity being a function of selective admissions is a tautology. To be useful, selectivity would need to be to some objective minimum standard, rather than enforcing an ever-changing standard that enforces the restriction of the profession to an arbitrary small number of entrants.