DblHelix said:
So is this a good thing or a bad thing? I mean it may be good because it increases the number of physicians but if we don't increase the number of residency spots then what's the point of having more people with DOs at the end of their name?
We have about 5000-7000 residency spots go unfilled every year, so they take foreign medical graduates to fill them.
At Cook County Hospital in Chicago, the entire internal medicine department is run by FMGs (95% or more) and it eventually leads to poorer medical care, do to language and cultural differences, not necessarily the "medicine" but the counseling etc. There was a famous paper about the patients that need the most care and most counseling end up with physicians that can barely relate to them.
Med schools all across America have all set a goal, per AMA, to increase their class sizes by 15% over the next 10 years to keep up with demand. They figure they can close the gap and not need to import physicians.
A few extra DO school pumping out 70-150 extra physicians is not going to make a huge dent.
The point is we need American physicians to take care of American patients.
Long before I went to medical school, I was an Economist, a businessman, a speech writer and worked with politicians on every level. I have a broad view.
All this doom and gloom is unfounded. There will be plenty of spots available for everyone, and not just primary care. Everyone keeps saying that DOs will just go into primary care, that is not necessarily the case. The best candidates will go to the best residencies regardless of MD/DO/FMG. And have we ever considered that some people like prmary care and are brilliant? Why do we assume that just because someone is going into primary care that means they are less gifted?
The AOA is doing a fine job taking care of the osteopathic medical world. They are not harming the future of the profession or leading to world wide nuclear winter scenarios that everyone seems to continually dream up. They are all professionals that have seen the bad days of osteopathic medicine, have seen the golden age, and now this meshing of MD and DO.... to where no one really sees a difference at all. They are all professionals and know what they are doing. They aren't a bunch of pre-meds and naive medical students. Come one now, let's give them more credit. And they meet and work with the AMA all year long, both are headquartered in downtown Chicago.
There will be an enormous physician shortage in all fields. Our population continues to grow, gets sicker and lives longer. Even if we had 50 new schools, it would not be enough. And new residency spots are not hard to open. So many hospitals I have been to are applying for more residncies and more specialities.
Don't worry about "poorer applicants" or "lower quality doctors".... that's extremely egalitarian, pompous, and arrogant. You won't become a physician if you are that awful. We all take the same board exams and have to pass. If you don't you don't move on. Just because someone had a bad day and scored 24 on their MCAT, rather than 32, that doesn't mean they can't pass their medical boards. I have seen so many minority students go to med school with 2.8 GPAs and 24 MCATs... and through their training and struggle in med school come out to be briliant physicians and amazing doctors. You can't move on if you don't pass.
Folks, we need to step back and take a wider view. We need American physicians to treat American patients. Period. I don't care if they scored 12 on their MCAT, if they get through med school and pass their boards.... they are qualified.
It's far more imporant to have a physician that understands their patients needs and can communicate and convince their patients, than have a brilliant mad scientist who can not relate to normal humans, or speaks a different language. Think about the patients. We want them to get better and healthier.
I'd much rather our residency spots go to our countrymen than to anyone else. Not out of ethnocentrism, but because our patients need us to be able to relate to them and convince them to follow our advice. We have to be able to convey our message.
We need to take it easy on all the doom's day scenarios. It's really sad to see these kinds of predictions and posts, especially since none of us actually have any hard evidence, studies, or facts. Just the facts!
Study hard, do well, and focus and being a good doctor; someone whose loved by his patients. You won't be broke if you are good with your patients.
Take care.....
This is a good thing since LECOM-FL just threw another 100 applicants into the mix without adding any residencies (at least any that I know of).
