6 ms·
The number of new physicians in the US are restricted because you need to go through residency and the number of residency slots are limited because they have t
by vsskanth 3y ago
The number of new physicians in the US are restricted because you need to go through residency and the number of residency slots are limited because they have to be funded by Medicare (why ?).
There's a huge lobby (AMA) to keep it that way, to ensure their members salaries remain high.
PAs and NPs don't have the same restriction so hospital systems are pushing to have them handle office visits as much as possible. This also has the advantage of being more profitable because they can charge the same.
In the last 5 years me and my wife have never been able to see a doctor, only a PA, even though we pay the same.
- rcpt 3y agoAMA stopped lobbying for that around ten years ago
- Afforess 3y agoWhich given the 8-10 year pipeline to become a physician, means we have yet to see the effects. It will take years more.
- sseagull 3y agoIt doesn’t help that doctors and other healthcare professionals are leaving because of burnout. It will only get worse in my opinion. “Warning signs for the U.S. health system are piling up” “Nearly half of practicing U.S. physicians are older than 55” https://www.axios.com/2023/10/26/health-care-doctor-shortages-warning https://www.axios.com/2023/10/26/health-care-doctor-shortage...
- brewdad 3y agoConsidering 30 is pretty much the lower bound for becoming a physician, that stat sounds a little bit like "40% of employee absences happen on Mondays and Fridays". Alarmist and of zero value.
- sseagull 3y agoI thought about that, but it is indeed getting worse. If a doctor works from 30-70 (not sure what the average retirement age would be), then about 38% should be over 55. Clicking through to the actual statistics: Percentage of active physicians aged 55 or older: 46.7% for 2021, 44.9% for 2019, 44.1% for 2017, 43.2% for 2015, 42.6% for 2013, 40.3% for 2010, 37.6% in 2007. So that is a worrying trend, since increasing population should result in at least a steady state, if not decreasing average age. Also, depends on specialty. 92.4% (!!) of specialists in pulmonary disease are over the age of 55. So I hope the aging population doesn't have any lung problems. Data is here for 2022, with links to other years: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/data/2022-physician-specialty-data-report-executive-summary https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/data/2022-physician-specia...
- userinanother 3y agoDid congress fix the pipeline problem? Seems like no
- rcpt 3y agoBecause the funding comes from Medicare and when you talk about that in Congress everyone loses their minds. Past lobbying by the AMA gets some blame. Current government inability to fund public healthcare gets some to.
- exhilaration 3y agoIs that because they won? This comment explains the history: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38063504 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38063504
- renewiltord 3y agoYeah, and America stopped fighting the Axis Powers. There's a reason we stopped.