Medical Field and the future

[Hymas283]

So I know that everyone says to go into medicine because you love it and it what you have a passion for, but there are other things I think also need to go into consideration.

I really do like medicine: it is very interesting, I love the hard sciences, and all the time i have worked at hospitals i have really enjoyed it. On the other hand, I dont want to go through all the schooling and spend all the money if the future of medicine is dismal.

I'm not in it for the money but i dont want to end up in a difficult career with little pay. Does anyone know how the ObamaCare and other things are going to affect healthcare? Is healthcare becoming a less desireable profession? Is the pay for doctor really going to be affected a lot in the future.

Im just trying to sort out my mind as to wether I should proceed in the MD direction. Would really appreciate some help.

Thanks,
CJ

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Obamacare is not the end of medicine as we know it.

The future is not dismal. In fact, it is looking pretty good to me!

 

[Doudline]

You know what I like more than anything?

The search button.
Google is close second.

 

[skippy]

Oh look, this thread again...

In all seriousness CJ, no one really knows how the ACA will affect medicine in the long term. A likely possibility is that salaries for high specialties will decrease a little bit and paperwork and transparency of cost will likely increase. Is the future of medicine dismal? Absolutely not. Is the ACA going to destroy medicine? Absolutely not. Is there room for more reform? Absolutely. If you're passionate about it, should you become a doctor? Absolutely.

 

[Hymas283]

w

 

[Hymas283]

You know what I like more than anything?

The search button.
Google is close second.

Well Doudline I searched and everything was geared towards specific positons in medicine not an overall encompassing opinion. Maybe if you know how to work the search button so well find me a relevent post?

 

[487806]

So I know that everyone says to go into medicine because you love it and it what you have a passion for, but there are other things I think also need to go into consideration.

I really do like medicine: it is very interesting, I love the hard sciences, and all the time i have worked at hospitals i have really enjoyed it. On the other hand, I dont want to go through all the schooling and spend all the money if the future of medicine is dismal.

I'm not in it for the money but i dont want to end up in a difficult career with little pay. Does anyone know how the ObamaCare and other things are going to affect healthcare? Is healthcare becoming a less desireable profession? Is the pay for doctor really going to be affected a lot in the future.

Im just trying to sort out my mind as to wether I should proceed in the MD direction. Would really appreciate some help.

Thanks,
CJ

Obamacare won't be as bad as you think (in regards to AMGs. I don't know about FMGs/IMGs).

 

[skippy]

I'll refer you to some of the recent threads and the posts in them that I think are the best.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=970790&highlight=ACA

Docs have been telling premeds not to go to med school since way before the ACA was passed. Before this, it was HMOs, before that it was Medicare... this sort of thing has been going on for generations. Most physician parents would not wish a medical career on their children. Health care reform will come eventually because it has to, but we don't know what that will look like. It's not like it won't eventually affect dentists and pharmacists, as well.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=973591&highlight=ACA

We don't collectively earn enough to get hit with any significant tax increase, no matter what the final deal looks like. Malpractice rates are not going up. In fact they have stagnated and even declined over the last 10-15 years. 33 million people are not entering the patient pool, they are entering the insurance pool. Most of them already utilize the healthcare system. Reimbursements are declining for some fields and increasing for others (mainly primary care).

Tuition and student debt I will grant you.

Contrary to what some might have you believe, we are not f-ed, we are in the middle of an untenable system adjusting to become more stable. I happen to believe it is a great time to pursue primary care. If I had to do it over again I might go FM and establish a small empire of PAs and NPs next to a ski town.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=968950&highlight=ACA

As an attending - my 2 cents.

If you're wanting to do it for the money - choose something else.

If you're wanting to do it because you think it's cool - it is cool, do it.

If I were to do it over again and I wanted something easier and more predictable with a better billing system - I'd probably do dentistry.

But I did this so I could properly run a code, an arrest, and do my best to prevent someone from dying prematurely. This is why I'm an Emergency Physician and this is why I went through med school and residency.

I get paid to do it... and I still get paid well.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=962668&highlight=ACA

This question has been asked many many times. Please, please, please, please use the search function. Literally one of the worst times that you could start another thread on this topic. Here's a primer:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=927565

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=958967

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=947554

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=937482

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=937419

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=889197

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=843419

As far as what it'll mean for doctors, it's not clear. Very smart people who dedicate their lives studying this kind of stuff disagree. So regardless of what you hear from a bunch of scientists, it's a complicated issue that has been beaten to death.

__________________

 

[487806]

 

[mcloaf]

I'll refer you to some of the recent threads and the posts in them that I think are the best.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=970790&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=973591&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=968950&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=962668&highlight=ACA


__________________

 

[Narmerguy]

I'll refer you to some of the recent threads and the posts in them that I think are the best.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=970790&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=973591&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=968950&highlight=ACA



http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=962668&highlight=ACA


__________________

/thread I think we don't need a 20th version of this when all the information is out there for now and we just have to sit and wait until things unfold and become better understood.

 

[Law2Doc]

So I know that everyone says to go into medicine because you love it and it what you have a passion for, but there are other things I think also need to go into consideration.

I really do like medicine: it is very interesting, I love the hard sciences, and all the time i have worked at hospitals i have really enjoyed it. On the other hand, I dont want to go through all the schooling and spend all the money if the future of medicine is dismal.

I'm not in it for the money but i dont want to end up in a difficult career with little pay. Does anyone know how the ObamaCare and other things are going to affect healthcare? Is healthcare becoming a less desireable profession? Is the pay for doctor really going to be affected a lot in the future.

Im just trying to sort out my mind as to wether I should proceed in the MD direction. Would really appreciate some help.

Thanks,
CJ

Under the current climate, it seems likely reimbursements will continue to go down while volumes are sure to go up. What this likely means is that salaries will go down slightly, hours will go up, per patient time will go down. Student debt will continue to rise. Methods of encouraging people to go into primary care and underserved regions will continue.

So in all probability, instead of a $180k primary care job where you work 60 hours a week and service your $250k in student loan debt, you may end up with an $150k job where you work 65 hours a week and are servicing a $300k debt. That's the future of medicine. So in the end it turn on what you think you'd love doing. You won't likely get filthy rich on this path, but won't be broke either.