Doctor Shortage???

[SubGod22]

Future doctor shortage could be a problem as it sounds as if many doctors aren't happy with things and 60% wouldn't recommend medicine as a career.

[ShockerGorilla]

Insurance companies have changed the medical field drastically in the past couple of decades. It seems that doctors have to work harder for less reimbursement from insurance, especially Medicare. Many other reasons drive them out of practice--the increasing number of uninsured patients, long hours, etc.

With the baby boomers getting older, this is going to be a real problem.

[rjl]

Ever rising tuition costs might scare some people away. But then again, they're rising for everything else--especially post-graduate--so it's either pay or don't play.

[ABC]

There is no question that if the government took over the health care system, that more folks would be interested in being a doc.

[SHOCKvalue]

Forgive me for being terse, but I have a really big problem feeling sorry for most medical doctors and their rock star lifestyles. I have absolutely no problem with someone being rewarded with good pay for a difficult education, and I have no problem with someone reaping the rewards of a business built from nothing, but with many of the specialists making high six-figure/low seven-figure incomes, you're going to have a hard time selling a sob story to the rest of us. Furthermore, with an associates degree (minimum for RN) yielding $80K-125K in many parts of the country, we're not feeling sorry for you either.

As long as medical billing comes as a blind, lump sump invoice we are going to remain in our health care stupor. Every other industry has figured out how to itemize and unit cost their pricing. In spite of the "but... but, we're saving your life and your situation is unique" spin the medical field likes to put on the issue, it can, should, and will have to be done in part to get us out of the health care conundrum we currently are in.

Doctors certainly aren't the main problem with health care today, but they're far from the victims they want everyone else to believe.

My $.02, which is more like $.01 recently.

[SubGod22]

It's not the specialist they were talking about.

[Ixiah]

Doctor's in a doctor office? Yer kiddin right? Those went extinct years ago when PA's took over. ;-)