How is there a shortage of doctors?

[gujuDoc]

Only thing I have to say on the matter is that being "pre-med" and going to med school are two completely different things. The whole shortage thing i bet someone else could answer.

Agree with this post and the post below yours. When we start college almost the majority of the people in the science classes are premed. But by the time we graduate only a certain few actually make it into a med school. As the years go by a lot of people drop the premed idea and go to other careers like other medical fields such as pharmacy, optometry, dentistry, PA school, nursing school, etc. or they go into research or completely switch gear and go into something completely different.

Most premeds just don't continue to stick with it once the reality has cut through.

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[gujuDoc]

Another point to make:

There are only about 16000 people who make it into med school each year. And even in med school, while the percentage is very very low there are still a certain amount of people that do either quit or end up failing out. So not every single person that makes it to med school ends up being a doctor.

Also thinking about the time it takes to finish different residencies its not like you can just produce doctors very quickly, so that will contribute to the shortage too.

Final point: distribution of doctors may be abundant in some areas but they'll be scarce in other areas. So there may be an overabundance in some cities while tere is a massive shortage in other areas that desperately need attention such as rural communities.

 

[NonTradMed]

I think everyone has touched on the pertinate points.

I just wanted to add that at certain schools, there *is* a warped sense that 'everyone wants to be a doctor' because so many people are science majors, and this translates into a large premed subpopulation. I don't blame the OP for the idea that 'everyone' seems to be premed. When I was in college, literally half the freshmen year class put down premed on their cards.

Then there was the fast dropoffs during critical periods until med school apps:

1. First exam of freshmen chemistry. Crying could be heard when the first exam came back.

2. End of first semester. I had a friend who did decently in her prereqs but couldn't handle the amount of work entailed to be premed.

3. Orgo. Some people have been known to be driven insane by this class.

4. MCAT. 'Nuff said.

5. Applications. This is where I stopped the process. I just couldn't take the idea of four more years. I dont' regret not applying my senior year. I do regret doing grad school instead of job.

6. And of course, half of all applicants don't get into med school.

So, there you have it. Of the thousands of people who come in declaring premed, only a fraction make it through the process. At my school, out of a class of ~1200, only about ~250 actually matriculated into med school three months after graduation (of course, this doesn't include people like me who took off a few years before med school, of which I heard there are tons, according to the school's recommendation letter writers).

 

[gujuDoc]

I think everyone has touched on the pertinate points.

I just wanted to add that at certain schools, there *is* a warped sense that 'everyone wants to be a doctor' because so many people are science majors, and this translates into a large premed subpopulation. I don't blame the OP for the idea that 'everyone' seems to be premed. When I was in college, literally half the freshmen year class put down premed on their cards.

Then there was the fast dropoffs during critical periods until med school apps:

1. First exam of freshmen chemistry. Crying could be heard when the first exam came back.

2. End of first semester. I had a friend who did decently in her prereqs but couldn't handle the amount of work entailed to be premed.

3. Orgo. Some people have been known to be driven insane by this class.

4. MCAT. 'Nuff said.

5. Applications. This is where I stopped the process. I just couldn't take the idea of four more years. I dont' regret not applying my senior year. I do regret doing grad school instead of job.

6. And of course, half of all applicants don't get into med school.

So, there you have it. Of the thousands of people who come in declaring premed, only a fraction make it through the process. At my school, out of a class of ~1200, only about ~250 actually matriculated into med school three months after graduation (of course, this doesn't include people like me who took off a few years before med school, of which I heard there are tons, according to the school's recommendation letter writers).

Well stated. Another point I just thought about.

There are some people who don't apply right away after their junior year so een if you graduate the same year as someone matriculating to medical school you may find that a certain percentage of the graduating class might be taking a year off or reapplying or doing a masters and then applying etc., granted that might not be a big percent or anything.

 

[BrownianMotion]

i actually havent read mosta thing but i did wanna point out in rural florida, there r many places where nurse practioners practice by themselves wit the supervision of an md due to the shortage...

 

[novawildcat]

A recent harvard med study suggests that a relatively small percentage of cases are, in fact, "frivolous". And BTW lawyers are, in fact, fined and sanctioned for taking truly "frivolous" cases (although the legal definition of frivolous is probably different and more conservative than yours.) The malprictice insurance levels are reflective of jury awards, so your issue is also with the public hostility toward "rich doctors" more than lawyers.

My brother was sued because he absolutely demolished a kid in a hockey game with a compeletely LEGAL body check (there was no penalty and play still went on) and broke his arm. Does this fall in the category of "frivolous"? That is like suing somebody cause you got injured from a tackle playing football or suing your opponent in a boxing match because he injured you from a punch. I really can't stand trial lawyers. The ones who stay out of the courtrooms for their entire careers are ok though.