4 ms·

I do not live in the US and therefore I am not sure why medicine has been singled out as a worthy profession to receive subsidy over many others? Don’t those in

by brtknr 8y ago

I do not live in the US and therefore I am not sure why medicine has been singled out as a worthy profession to receive subsidy over many others? Don’t those in the medical profession get paid reasonably well over there? Aren’t there other professions equally necessary for a functional society that don’t get compensated as well as they should like teachers, social workers and those in the voluntary sectors who would be better off with this money? I personally think this is a misjudged priority in the grand scheme of things.

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
There are a couple arguments: 1. This isn't an "either/or" proposition. This is one university that is making medical education free. There are other universities and programs that have free or low cost programs for the jobs you discuss. 2. Medical school education is phenomenally expensive in the US, unlike training for the other jobs you give as examples, and this expense has a structural impact that negatively impacts our health care system. The high cost of education is one reason that so many doctors opt for higher paying specialties that have higher salaries but don't necessarily result in an overall healthier society.
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
The expense of medical school makes going unreachable for a portion of people. The pay comes later, after all the schooling is complete, and then paying back the loans can still be a burden. From what I have seen, anyway. And yes, there are other professions equally necessary. To be fair, though, most of those jobs don't require the same level of debt either, and are more obtainable by folks with lower incomes pre-schooling.
dionidium 8y ago
It's also the case that medical students are a pretty good risk. Graduation rates are very high [0] compared to the broader population of undergrads [1]. We sometimes talk about college as a binary -- "Did you go to college? Yes/No? Should we pay for college? Yes/no?" -- but there are enormous differences in experiences and outcomes across majors and institutions. [0] https://www.aamc.org/download/379220/data/may2014aib-graduationratesandattritionfactorsforusmedschools.pdf https://www.aamc.org/download/379220/data/may2014aib-graduat... [1] https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40

by brtknr 8y ago

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

There are a couple arguments: 1. This isn't an "either/or" proposition. This is one university that is making medical education free. There are other universities and programs that have free or low cost programs for the jobs you discuss. 2. Medical school education is phenomenally expensive in the US, unlike training for the other jobs you give as examples, and this expense has a structural impact that negatively impacts our health care system. The high cost of education is one reason that so many doctors opt for higher paying specialties that have higher salaries but don't necessarily result in an overall healthier society.

Broken_Hippo 8y ago

The expense of medical school makes going unreachable for a portion of people. The pay comes later, after all the schooling is complete, and then paying back the loans can still be a burden. From what I have seen, anyway. And yes, there are other professions equally necessary. To be fair, though, most of those jobs don't require the same level of debt either, and are more obtainable by folks with lower incomes pre-schooling.

dionidium 8y ago

It's also the case that medical students are a pretty good risk. Graduation rates are very high [0] compared to the broader population of undergrads [1]. We sometimes talk about college as a binary -- "Did you go to college? Yes/No? Should we pay for college? Yes/no?" -- but there are enormous differences in experiences and outcomes across majors and institutions. [0] https://www.aamc.org/download/379220/data/may2014aib-graduationratesandattritionfactorsforusmedschools.pdf https://www.aamc.org/download/379220/data/may2014aib-graduat... [1] https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40