4 ms·

> mountains of school debt Is this, plus the liability insurance aspect, the root of the problem? I wonder if prospective doctors could “enlist” where the gove

by teeray 3y ago

> mountains of school debt Is this, plus the liability insurance aspect, the root of the problem? I wonder if prospective doctors could “enlist” where the government pays for all this training and shields them on the condition that they follow orders for some period of time like “be a primary care doctor in this underserved community and treat everyone.” You can’t go be a Malibu plastic surgeon until after your mandatory service period.

MattGaiser 3y ago
Isn’t this just the military? Canadian military is perpetually short of medical staff even with this.
- teeray 3y ago
  Not exactly my thoughts, but similar. The military trains doctors for troops and veterans. This would be for the benefit of civilians. One provides for the common defense, this would promote the general welfare.
giantg2 3y ago
"Is this, plus the liability insurance aspect, the root of the problem?" Maybe for some, but not all. I know of more than a few older doctors that decided to retire because they didn't want to deal with increased regulation. So it's not always a money issue. "I wonder if prospective doctors could “enlist” where the government pays for all this training and shields them" They have these programs for military doctors. Doctors working for the VA (and maybe other federal things like prisons) can usually avoid a lot of state related costs, which I believe includes malpractice insurance (or maybe the federal version of malpractice is cheaper).
logicchains 3y ago
Medical school is so expensive because it's a cartel; the government limits new entrants, so the schools can charge whatever they want because they know they're not going to get any competition. And it doesn't allow people to practice medicine unless they attended one of those privileged schools.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  > the government limits new entrants ... based on lobbying from the AMA, which is only in the last couple of years reluctantly acknowledging that maybe, perhaps, possibly, it shot itself in the foot with the increasing amount of physician burnout.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Source? I don’t think the federal US government has any say about how many medical school students there can be. The federal government does provide funding for residency positions, and all doctors are required to complete residency. This residency funding has been effectively flat for many, many years, effectively capping the number of residency positions, which then caps the number of new doctors per year. But I am not sure what exactly limits anyone other than the government from funding residency positions.
NegativeK 3y ago
Teach for America (a non-profit) works with some colleges to offset some of the tuition. There are states in the US that will cover the difference of out of state tuition at an out of state veterinary medical school in exchange for years of work in state. Unsurprisingly, those programs still exist because there are still shortages despite the help they're bringing. But there's precedent.

by teeray 3y ago

MattGaiser 3y ago

Isn’t this just the military? Canadian military is perpetually short of medical staff even with this.

teeray 3y ago
Not exactly my thoughts, but similar. The military trains doctors for troops and veterans. This would be for the benefit of civilians. One provides for the common defense, this would promote the general welfare.

giantg2 3y ago

"Is this, plus the liability insurance aspect, the root of the problem?" Maybe for some, but not all. I know of more than a few older doctors that decided to retire because they didn't want to deal with increased regulation. So it's not always a money issue. "I wonder if prospective doctors could “enlist” where the government pays for all this training and shields them" They have these programs for military doctors. Doctors working for the VA (and maybe other federal things like prisons) can usually avoid a lot of state related costs, which I believe includes malpractice insurance (or maybe the federal version of malpractice is cheaper).

logicchains 3y ago

Medical school is so expensive because it's a cartel; the government limits new entrants, so the schools can charge whatever they want because they know they're not going to get any competition. And it doesn't allow people to practice medicine unless they attended one of those privileged schools.

FireBeyond 3y ago
> the government limits new entrants ... based on lobbying from the AMA, which is only in the last couple of years reluctantly acknowledging that maybe, perhaps, possibly, it shot itself in the foot with the increasing amount of physician burnout.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
Source? I don’t think the federal US government has any say about how many medical school students there can be. The federal government does provide funding for residency positions, and all doctors are required to complete residency. This residency funding has been effectively flat for many, many years, effectively capping the number of residency positions, which then caps the number of new doctors per year. But I am not sure what exactly limits anyone other than the government from funding residency positions.

NegativeK 3y ago

Teach for America (a non-profit) works with some colleges to offset some of the tuition. There are states in the US that will cover the difference of out of state tuition at an out of state veterinary medical school in exchange for years of work in state. Unsurprisingly, those programs still exist because there are still shortages despite the help they're bringing. But there's precedent.