3 ms·

And for good reasons.

rscho 5y ago
Are you sure about that? The reason is certainly not the quality of incoming personnel, as even german docs have to repeat residency. And TBH, I'm quite convinced that the average german doc is better than the average US doc. The real reason is about having complete control over the health worker supply.
- twofornone 5y ago
  What exactly is the benefit to importing personnel who will work for lower wages and draining talent from other nations when we have 300MM+ local people from which we could train medical workers? I fundamentally don't understand why people feel that they are entitled to a job in the US, that we somehow owe people from other nations a chance to immigrate, when we have entire swaths here in the country that have been effectively left behind by the economy (inner cities and rural america, especially Appalachia). Maybe we should focus more on training our existing citizens out of poverty and into skilled labor, rather than brain-draining the rest of the world.
- wreath 5y ago
  What convinces you of that, im curious.
  - rscho 5y ago
    I'm an MD and have worked on both sides of the pond. That said, I clearly have a negative bias against the US system stemming from (bad) personal experience. What I can say objectively is that US docs are educated to be hyperspecialists. They do their thing, and their thing only and often have very narrow general medical knowledge. Europeans usually are more well-rounded, but that tends to backfire in smaller countries where there aren't enough cases to become truly expert.
    - systemvoltage 5y ago
      > What I can say objectively is that US docs are educated to be hyperspecialists. They do their thing, and their thing only and often have very narrow general medical knowledge. This is an absurdly bold claim. How do you go from a personal experience to being in the position to make sweeping claims like this?
      - rscho 5y ago
        Well yes, it's personal experience. However, for me everything from study material to situational context to interaction with peers pointed to that being the case. Be free to make what you want of it.
    - wreath 5y ago
      Thanks for elaborating. What I was interested in is German-educated vs American-educated doc but you generalized it to Europeans as well. My experience with German doctors is that they are generally dismissive and would rather do the bare minimum. I cannot assess their technical competence but Id rather go to a non-German doctor. This hasnt been my experience in Croatia, France or Poland. No clue about American docs.
  - darkwizard42 5y ago
    The control over healthcare supply is pretty obvious given how limited the seats are each year for residency and matching process. It is entirely controlled by a system that has a cap on how many can go through to the next stage of mandatory post-med school training...
kevin_thibedeau 5y ago
I know an Eastern European surgeon who had to become a lawyer in the US because of the licensing game.

Are you sure about that? The reason is certainly not the quality of incoming personnel, as even german docs have to repeat residency. And TBH, I'm quite convinced that the average german doc is better than the average US doc. The real reason is about having complete control over the health worker supply.

twofornone 5y ago
What exactly is the benefit to importing personnel who will work for lower wages and draining talent from other nations when we have 300MM+ local people from which we could train medical workers? I fundamentally don't understand why people feel that they are entitled to a job in the US, that we somehow owe people from other nations a chance to immigrate, when we have entire swaths here in the country that have been effectively left behind by the economy (inner cities and rural america, especially Appalachia). Maybe we should focus more on training our existing citizens out of poverty and into skilled labor, rather than brain-draining the rest of the world.
wreath 5y ago
What convinces you of that, im curious.
- rscho 5y ago
  I'm an MD and have worked on both sides of the pond. That said, I clearly have a negative bias against the US system stemming from (bad) personal experience. What I can say objectively is that US docs are educated to be hyperspecialists. They do their thing, and their thing only and often have very narrow general medical knowledge. Europeans usually are more well-rounded, but that tends to backfire in smaller countries where there aren't enough cases to become truly expert.
  - systemvoltage 5y ago
    > What I can say objectively is that US docs are educated to be hyperspecialists. They do their thing, and their thing only and often have very narrow general medical knowledge. This is an absurdly bold claim. How do you go from a personal experience to being in the position to make sweeping claims like this?
    - rscho 5y ago
      Well yes, it's personal experience. However, for me everything from study material to situational context to interaction with peers pointed to that being the case. Be free to make what you want of it.
  - wreath 5y ago
    Thanks for elaborating. What I was interested in is German-educated vs American-educated doc but you generalized it to Europeans as well. My experience with German doctors is that they are generally dismissive and would rather do the bare minimum. I cannot assess their technical competence but Id rather go to a non-German doctor. This hasnt been my experience in Croatia, France or Poland. No clue about American docs.
- darkwizard42 5y ago
  The control over healthcare supply is pretty obvious given how limited the seats are each year for residency and matching process. It is entirely controlled by a system that has a cap on how many can go through to the next stage of mandatory post-med school training...

kevin_thibedeau 5y ago

I know an Eastern European surgeon who had to become a lawyer in the US because of the licensing game.