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> Health care must be rationed. It is a finite good. Instead of FWD.us initiative of bringing over competent technology people from abroad, maybe we should ins

by clicks 13y ago

> Health care must be rationed. It is a finite good. Instead of FWD.us initiative of bringing over competent technology people from abroad, maybe we should instead try to attract more doctors/medical professionals from India/China into coming here.

jdminhbg 13y ago
I dunno about "instead of," but not granting citizenship to any qualified doctor who wants it is pretty stupid on our part. Easy for me to say, though, since the AMA won't run ads about me killing babies for voting for such a thing.
steve19 13y ago
I don't think that is the answer. Can every student in the USA who is willing and capable of being a doctor get into med school? I would guess that this is probably not the case. Increasing the number of doctors produced locally would seem to me to be a much easier way of increasing supply.
- fancyketchup 13y ago
  > Can every student in the USA who is willing and capable of being a doctor get into med school? No, but it's not because they aren't good enough. In grad school, I TA'd a physics class for pre-med students, which were widely considered to be one of the most miserable and obnoxious groups to teach. Each student felt entitled to an A, even though the department mandated that only 25% of students could receive an A. In reality, probably more than 80% of the class earned an A, and I would have felt comfortable that most of the rest were smart enough to one day give me medical advice. Yet, less than 45% of people who applied to one or more medical schools [1] are admitted (and this is a self-selected group: those without 4.0 GPAs, three extra-curriculars, and a side-business of helping old ladies across the street generally don't apply). I would estimate that only about the top 15% to 25% of the class actually applied. So, from undergrad pre-med to MD, there is about a (hand-wavy) 90% attrition rate of people who are probably smart enough and probably willing to work hard enough, and who have the desire to become doctors. > Increasing the number of doctors produced locally would seem to me to be a much easier way of increasing supply. I agree, but the medical profession is not willing to allow this to happen. Each medical school has a quota, and nobody wants to rock the boat. The trouble is, there isn't really any way to force medical schools to admit more students. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_the_United_St...
gruseom 13y ago
In fact, the economist Dean Baker has been arguing for just that as a free-market reform that would actually bring health care costs down. And the converse, too: that Medicare/Medicaid patients should be allowed to get cheaper health care abroad. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/the-health-care-industry-protectionism-the-free-traders-love http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&#... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/21/free-trade-medicare-benefits-washington http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/21/free-tra...
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
Or we could open more medical schools? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the...

by clicks 13y ago

jdminhbg 13y ago

I dunno about "instead of," but not granting citizenship to any qualified doctor who wants it is pretty stupid on our part. Easy for me to say, though, since the AMA won't run ads about me killing babies for voting for such a thing.

steve19 13y ago

I don't think that is the answer. Can every student in the USA who is willing and capable of being a doctor get into med school? I would guess that this is probably not the case. Increasing the number of doctors produced locally would seem to me to be a much easier way of increasing supply.

fancyketchup 13y ago
> Can every student in the USA who is willing and capable of being a doctor get into med school? No, but it's not because they aren't good enough. In grad school, I TA'd a physics class for pre-med students, which were widely considered to be one of the most miserable and obnoxious groups to teach. Each student felt entitled to an A, even though the department mandated that only 25% of students could receive an A. In reality, probably more than 80% of the class earned an A, and I would have felt comfortable that most of the rest were smart enough to one day give me medical advice. Yet, less than 45% of people who applied to one or more medical schools [1] are admitted (and this is a self-selected group: those without 4.0 GPAs, three extra-curriculars, and a side-business of helping old ladies across the street generally don't apply). I would estimate that only about the top 15% to 25% of the class actually applied. So, from undergrad pre-med to MD, there is about a (hand-wavy) 90% attrition rate of people who are probably smart enough and probably willing to work hard enough, and who have the desire to become doctors. > Increasing the number of doctors produced locally would seem to me to be a much easier way of increasing supply. I agree, but the medical profession is not willing to allow this to happen. Each medical school has a quota, and nobody wants to rock the boat. The trouble is, there isn't really any way to force medical schools to admit more students. [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school_in_the_United_St...

gruseom 13y ago

In fact, the economist Dean Baker has been arguing for just that as a free-market reform that would actually bring health care costs down. And the converse, too: that Medicare/Medicaid patients should be allowed to get cheaper health care abroad. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/the-health-care-industry-protectionism-the-free-traders-love http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&#... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/21/free-trade-medicare-benefits-washington http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/21/free-tra...

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

Or we could open more medical schools? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the...