Personally I don't think it makes much sense to use what doctors in other countries make as a basis for estimating what doctors in the US might make IF a one player universal healthcare system was implemented here. It makes a great TV soundbite but the issue has a lot more other factors than just who pays the bills.
For starters, length of the education is different, in many other countries medical education is an integrated 5-6year program and residencies are different too. Also the cost of medical school is very different as well, and on top of that you have socialist countries such as Denmark where you receive a stipend as a student (compared to here where you might be taking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans). You have to remember that Great Britain has universal healthcare but also private healthcare which makes salaries vary somewhat.
And of course everything is relative, even in countries where from our perspective doctors aren't well compensated, they still make a decent amount compared to others.
Hmm. A number of issues here. It is difficult to compare our salaries as doctors to those of other countries. How much of a paycut would you be willing to take if
a) you had no loan payments (your education was free),
b) you had no health insurance payments (healthcare is socialized), and
c) you had no liability insurance payments (because ours are much much higher than anyone elses)
I'd say that'd amount to at least $2000-$3000 a month, so that's a cut of say, $25-30,000. So please keep that in mind when you compare.
Exactly. When people try to compare how much doctors make in this country vs other countries, they forget to take into account that those 'socialized' systems also means education is (relatively) free and malpractice is not nearly as high. Plus not all doctors work crazy hours in other countries. US doctors make a very good salary compared to other countries but there's also hidden costs that eat up our salary (long hours/malpractice/tuition).
And one more thing, even in Canada, with it's much ballyhooed socialized system, still seems to attract top undergrads into their medical school. In fact, I had dated a Canadian doctor who was doing his residency in this country and he mentioned that it was so hard to get into a Canadian school that most med students actually had used US med schools as backups in case they didn't get in in Canada. British medical schools is also competitive. So having a socialized type of system does not seem to deter good students from entering medicine.
As for the OP's question, health care is changing yes, but everything changes. Every field is changing constantly, the difference is that people acknowledge that healthcare NEEDS to be changed.
How much did if affect my decision---hm, a small bit, but after I researched other fields, I realized all fields will change. My parents were microbiologists who ended up doing molecular biology. Their field has changed in leaps and bounds since they graduated from school.
The IT field, my previous of line work, is also changing. Who knows if programming will ever become a feasible option for US students in the next twenty years with all the outsourcing?
Healthcare will also change as people are starting to feel the heavy cost of it. But the healthcare system is so large, there is so much inertia, that any change will come slowly.
People on these boards have such doomsday scenario that doctors will be forced to be slave labor or whatever, which I think is pretty nuts. My parents DID work for the gov't for over 20 years before going into the private industry. It certainly isn't the nightmare people make it out to be, but I can't remember one area of industry where an entire profession is made into a public profession. We live in a free market society and there will always be room for doctors who want to operate cash-only, or in private practice. People will always want choices outside of what the gov't offers. People are used to the high quality of service. Not everyone will be clamoring for gov't run services. I am not worried that we will all be forced to work for the county hospital (heaven forbid). Whatever the situation is, I'm pretty sure the multitude of choices, and pay structure will always be available to doctors. And because of that, there is always room for US doctors to do well.
