how worried are you about the future?

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Since you seem like you have thought about this a great deal, I am curious as to your reasoning for pursuing medicine as a career in light of the fact that doctors will be among the first to lost their jobs to automation. I've been quite interested in pursuing medicine for a long time but my roommates were all compsci majors last year and while I have no personal interest in computer science, I am a little worried about the role of doctors in the future of medicine.

No reason to worry. If you want to be a doctor, go to medical school. Despite articles like these and alarmist opinions, doctors are going to be around for the foreseeable future. Technology will always change how we practice, but not that we practice.

People have been making futurist predictions for decades. Often these are pipe dreams that do not come to fruition.

http://fusion.net/story/161697/here...cted-would-be-the-breakthroughs-of-the-1980s/
 
You've described a state that doctors have been in for 1-2 decades already. This motion is happening regardless, and I'd hope all of us realized this when we set out for medicine in the first place 1-4+ yrs ago. The more doctors work for companies, the more they are subject to this. The further removed doctors are from patients, the more they are subject to this. The more doctors rely on organizations to provide them with patients (and in turn RVUs), the more they are subject to this. This also doesn't mean the end of the world as we know it. Physician run UC, DPC, and a host of other systems have come about because physicians are dissatisfied with being cogs, and what results is the modern day equivalent of private practice.

We aren't in the age (and haven't been for some time) of hanging up shingles and being set for life, that doesn't mean options don't exist. It may just mean that its easier for us not to worry about it, and to just be someone's employee. I don't think anyone disagrees that we are losing ground in autonomy and strength, what we disagree with is the speed and degree with which that ground is lost.

(Serious) You're telling me that medicine today is not accommodating for the following scenario: Become PCP, open shingle in BFE, make ~100k/year after taxes and all deductions (including loans), and have 3-5 months off per year?

If this isn't realistic anymore I got a lot to think about...
 
(Serious) You're telling me that medicine today is not accommodating for the following scenario: Become PCP, open shingle in BFE, make ~100k/year after taxes and all deductions (including loans), and have 3-5 months off per year?

If this isn't realistic anymore I got a lot to think about...
I don't know that this was ever realistic...
 
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Open your own practice as a primary care provider and have 3-5 months off? Um no. Not realistic. You have to provide care for your patients those other 3-5 months...

You are also, in that scenario, running your own business with overhead and presumably other employees.

I'm sure some premed will unhelpfully chime in that their second cousin in law Gary did this, but no it is not a reasonable career plan.

If you want that much time off, locums work is probably the most (basically only) thing to count on.
So the only part of my plan that is not working is the time off? Cause that's pretty easy to fix...
 
So the only part of my plan that is not working is the time off? Cause that's pretty easy to fix...

The other major issue with your plan is getting a patient base established. The biggest problems for individuals hoping to open a new private practice are getting the money to start it up, and building a consistent patient base quickly enough to make money or even stay afloat. It's why a huge percentage of physicians that go into private practice join a small private group that is already established and eventually take it over, or stay long enough to get a solid patient base before creating their own practice. The ones that immediately open their own practice usually take some huge monetary hits early on until they can grow their practice to a decent size. It's not like patients will just show up at your office once you hang your shingle. You've got to build a reputation and establish yourself first.
 
(Serious) You're telling me that medicine today is not accommodating for the following scenario: Become PCP, open shingle in BFE, make ~100k/year after taxes and all deductions (including loans), and have 3-5 months off per year?

If this isn't realistic anymore I got a lot to think about...

Please do a rotation
 
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