The above statement is rediculous.
Perhaps looking at the larger picture will provide something useful.
Consider:
-Physician Assistant similar idea to Oral Health Therapist.
-International Medical Graduate (IMG) fulfills need for Family Medicine physician, similar to dental IMG filling role of rural/underserved General Dentist.
-Now even Doctor of Nurse Practitioners are able to practice independently (did you notice that word) in 23 states, and have a sign out front that says, "DOCTOR." How many patients are going to question that one? How do you think Family Medicine Docs feel about these new rapid-formed Dr's stepping on their territory? If you read, you will quickly come across the topic of Family Medicine becoming a moot point, or headed the way of the Dodo bird.
-Do you think dentistry is immune to following this mechanism?
If dentists had paid attention to distribution and caring for underserved, there would not be a Oral Health Therapist (OHT). OHT is commonly spoken of as a huge threat to General Dentists. Dentists have themselves to blame for allowing the problem to persist for so many years that one day someone woke up at their desk in Washington and uttered something like, "maybe we should train an intermediate person in shorter time to do basic care things, maybe that would help, (thud) ZZzzZZZZ."
Family Medicine physicians (or those with the reigns on keeping more student numbers out of medical school classrooms) also 'asked for it' and the Physician Assistant position was developed in the 1960's.
Perhaps now it is time for the dental field to have OHT, IMG dentists, and other caregivers to work in the places General Dentists fear to tread.
AAFP article here (
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20060823imgs.html) shows that:
1.) 49 percent of IMG family physicians were accepting all new Medicaid patients, compared with 40 percent of USMG family physicians.
2.) 73 percent of IMGs reported having adequate time to spend with patients versus 66 percent of USMGs
3.) International medical graduates (IMGs), who in 2004 made up 38 percent of first-year Family Medicine residencies.
Now trying to tease out why certain circles of people show disagreement with allowing IMG's to come work in the United States is more difficult.
-If race or land of initial origin makes IMG doctors seem unfit by your standards, many IMG's are from the US but study off of US soil (Ross, St. George's, Ben Gurion, etc.). Looking at the student profiles of these IMG's-in-training shows many from the US.
-If you can accept the fact that Family Medicine doctors are needed in the US (read: enormous problem from baby boomers), we need to fill this need for Family Doctors. Allopathic schools function with such a glacial rate that they will take decades to match the AAMC's calling to increase student classes by 30%.
If the US healthcare system continues to lure people into Family Medicine as it is now ($113,000 avg income, 60 hour avg hrs/wk), certainly we have only seen the beginning of this trend.
Family Medicine, like glaciers only shows about 10% that is immediately visible.
Perhaps being thoughtful, thinking, or even reading about topics before falling down into racist, juvenile, and otherwise pungently ignorant tones about how these people are bad for patients. Much of the dialogue in this thread is simply trembling about all that prescious & sacred money that your birthright entitles you to.
Patients should be cared for. If patients are being cared for--those in our profession are doing their job.
We have examples of other professions that show us what happens when from over indulging in the spoils, you lie asleep at the wheel for too long. Someone else may come along and eat your lunch.
