4 ms·

> If there were 100 qualified surgeons for every patient needing an operation, and would stampede each other for a chance to work and get paid, we'd pay them $2

> If there were 100 qualified surgeons for every patient needing an operation, and would stampede each other for a chance to work and get paid, we'd pay them $25/hour too. The number of surgeons is artificially low because of limits on the number of residency spots in this country. So I agree that prices can probably come down, somewhat. However, attorneys are not limited in the same way but can still cost a fortune, because people are willing to pay a lot for perceived value when there's a high stakes outcome. Some things just aren't worth farming out to the lowest bidder.

blobbers 6y ago
That's not "artificially" low. You need to do a residency to be properly trained to handle all kinds of situations. Your surgeon can't be in a position of "well I've never done this in a supervised setting so let me go find someone to teach me" as the lead surgeon. That's exactly the reason they do a residency.
- chadash 6y ago
  What's artificially low is the number of residency slots. In other words, it's not just that you have to clear a bar to be a surgeon. It's that there are literally X number of slots and if you don't get one of them, you're out, regardless of whether you would qualify. I'd say it's an artificial constraint since there are far more people trying to get into med school (not a specific school... med school generally) than there are slots. With law, for example, you have to go to law school and pass a test, but if you do, you are in. There's a lot of law schools out there, to the point where a large percentage of people graduating don't get good jobs. The same isn't true for medical residency graduates.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    The idea behind having a privatized healthcare system is that, yes you are massively overcharging for life saving procedures, but that money will then be spent on training more surgeons to lower the price in the future. The end result is an expensive system with superior outcomes. >It's that there are literally X number of slots This is fundamentally incompatible with the idea of a privatized healthcare system. It simply cannot be functional this way. I hope Americans will wake up and realize that this sort of welfare should not exist. It's always sad when I see Americans brag about their highly efficient free market systems when they fail the basic requirements needed for a free market to actually work. Yes it can work and yes you'd be allowed to brag but as it is you haven't figured out how to make it work yet.
- komodo009 6y ago
  That's fine. The artificial part is limits placed on how many residencies there are available. https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/_files/fact-sheets/fgr-health-factsheet-gme-f1.pdf https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/_files/f...
- imtringued 6y ago
  From what I can tell the salaries of american surgeons are high enough to justify training more. There is no need to restrict training of more surgeons. Heck, by your logic we should train as many surgeons as we can and then get rid of the worst ones instead of being dependent on a small subset that we let into the training program in the first place.

blobbers 6y ago

That's not "artificially" low. You need to do a residency to be properly trained to handle all kinds of situations. Your surgeon can't be in a position of "well I've never done this in a supervised setting so let me go find someone to teach me" as the lead surgeon. That's exactly the reason they do a residency.

chadash 6y ago
What's artificially low is the number of residency slots. In other words, it's not just that you have to clear a bar to be a surgeon. It's that there are literally X number of slots and if you don't get one of them, you're out, regardless of whether you would qualify. I'd say it's an artificial constraint since there are far more people trying to get into med school (not a specific school... med school generally) than there are slots. With law, for example, you have to go to law school and pass a test, but if you do, you are in. There's a lot of law schools out there, to the point where a large percentage of people graduating don't get good jobs. The same isn't true for medical residency graduates.
- imtringued 6y ago
  The idea behind having a privatized healthcare system is that, yes you are massively overcharging for life saving procedures, but that money will then be spent on training more surgeons to lower the price in the future. The end result is an expensive system with superior outcomes. >It's that there are literally X number of slots This is fundamentally incompatible with the idea of a privatized healthcare system. It simply cannot be functional this way. I hope Americans will wake up and realize that this sort of welfare should not exist. It's always sad when I see Americans brag about their highly efficient free market systems when they fail the basic requirements needed for a free market to actually work. Yes it can work and yes you'd be allowed to brag but as it is you haven't figured out how to make it work yet.
komodo009 6y ago
That's fine. The artificial part is limits placed on how many residencies there are available. https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/_files/fact-sheets/fgr-health-factsheet-gme-f1.pdf https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/_files/f...
imtringued 6y ago
From what I can tell the salaries of american surgeons are high enough to justify training more. There is no need to restrict training of more surgeons. Heck, by your logic we should train as many surgeons as we can and then get rid of the worst ones instead of being dependent on a small subset that we let into the training program in the first place.