Medical Field Saturation?

[Shiue]

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With all these medical schools opening, would medicine ever go in the way of pharmacy, optometry, and law (ie really saturated)? I'm scared that we will go through all the training yet be unemployed 🙁.

 

[68PGunner]

With all these medical schools opening, would medicine ever go in the way of pharmacy, optometry, and law (ie really saturated)? I'm scared that we will go through all the training yet be unemployed 🙁.

Quit now then.

 

[angeloflogic]

No. For the time being the limited number of residency spots will mitigate any extreme influxes of more med students. Even with current trends, there is a HUGE deficit in the number of doctors needed in America. If you're a certified and competent doctor, you're almost guaranteed to find a job. Granted, there might be job saturation in certain markets like Boston and NYC; however, rural areas and most suburb areas are starving for doctors.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

No.

 

[Scrubs101]

Baby boomers = retiring = more job openings = temporarily diluted market

Also even if the number of medical schools opening becomes a problem, matching will be significantly more of an issue than finding a job will ever be IMO


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[Goro]

I am hopeful that the AMA and AOA is more on the ball than the ABA. But the bottleneck is residency slots, and I am worried that there will soon be more bodies than slots. If this happens, the biggest losers will be IMGs, and med students with red flags.

Contrary to popular notion, there is not a physician shortage in the US...but there is a maldistribution

With the retiring of the Baby Boom generation of doctors, that maldistribution will get worse, I fear.

 

[68PGunner]

I am hopeful that the AMA and AOA is more on the ball than the ABA. But the bottleneck is residency slots, and I am worried that there will soon be more bodies than slots. If this happens, the biggest losers will be IMGs, and med students with red flags.

Contrary to popular notion, there is not a physician shortage in the US...but there is a maldistribution

With the retiring of the Baby Boom generation of doctors, that maldistribution will get worse, I fear.

Can more of you boomers put your houses for sale in decent places so that I can afford a nice house that's not in the middle of nowhere in 10 years?

 

[chizledfrmstone]

I am hopeful that the AMA and AOA is more on the ball than the ABA. But the bottleneck is residency slots, and I am worried that there will soon be more bodies than slots. If this happens, the biggest losers will be IMGs, and med students with red flags.

Contrary to popular notion, there is not a physician shortage in the US...but there is a maldistribution

With the retiring of the Baby Boom generation of doctors, that maldistribution will get worse, I fear.

I don't understand how people keep saying this. There are residencies that will take IMG but won't take DOs.

The maldistribution might just fix itself. There will be quite a few underperforming graduates who have to take residencies in less desirable spots or risk not matching. Not everyone can match in the big cities.

With the student debt getting higher it's quite lucrative to work in rural areas that pay more.

 

[Goro]

I agree, but there are only so many of these, and the ones that do accept US MD, DO and IMG will squeeze out the IMG. So, there will always be some baseline IMG residents, until Congress eventually cuts off the money spigot for loans (I'm not holding my breath though.)

I don't understand how people keep saying this. There are residencies that will take IMG but won't take DOs.

 

[Anti-PD1]

No. GME hasn't grown much. More schools opening = less FMGs in the Bronx.

And don't take the AMA/AAMC doctor shortage stance slogan too seriously. Several medical societies purposely keep their GME slots low.

Is there a derm shortage? Yes, there is, and there will be. Forever.

 

[drkristy85]

No. For the time being the limited number of residency spots will mitigate any extreme influxes of more med students. Even with current trends, there is a HUGE deficit in the number of doctors needed in America. If you're a certified and competent doctor, you're almost guaranteed to find a job. Granted, there might be job saturation in certain markets like Boston and NYC; however, rural areas and most suburb areas are starving for doctors.

T

Baby boomers = retiring = more job openings = temporarily diluted market

Also even if the number of medical schools opening becomes a problem, matching will be significantly more of an issue than finding a job will ever be IMO


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Journalists love to write articles about “retiring baby boomer doctors” “doctors will be retiring in droves”. These articles have been in the news for the past 5-10 years. This all makes for exciting news stories but is simply not true.

The retirement age for doctors has been increasing, year after year. Doctors are living longer and working longer. Most doctors work into their late 70’s and early 80’s. Some work until they die.

 

[drkristy85]

Can more of you boomers put your houses for sale in decent places so that I can afford a nice house that's not in the middle of nowhere in 10 years?

No because the boomer will live there for 40 more years, maybe 50. He will die around 95, so he’s got 40 more years.