Should I get to know the US Healthcare System?

[The Milkman]

Obviously you should know the healthcare system once you are a doctor, but how important is understanding how healthcare works in the US during undergrad years, and is it likely to be brought up during secondaries/interviews? Just wondering because as of now, I honestly don't know too much about it.

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[gocanes1990]

I am applying now, but from what i heard, it is VERY likely current healthcare issues will come up in interviews, i would def read up on Obamacare (or affordable care act for you more liberal people)

 

[Jennyfishy]

If you have time, you should always read up on current issues related to your field of study/profession/field of interest. The more informed you are, the better of an informed decision you can make, and a stronger understanding you will have of what you're getting into.

Imagine if someone made it all the way to interviews and knew absolutely nothing about how healthcare worked in the US. , not very reassuring.

 

[The Milkman]

If you have time, you should always read up on current issues related to your field of study/profession/field of interest. The more informed you are, the better of an informed decision you can make, and a stronger understanding you will have of what you're getting into.

Imagine if someone made it all the way to interviews and knew absolutely nothing about how healthcare worked in the US. , not very reassuring.

that's what I was assuming, time to pull out the magazines and newspapers!

 

[Jennyfishy]

good luck!

 

[The Milkman]

Does anyone have any good sources to begin learning about all of this?

 

[McNCheese]

http://www.kaiseredu.org/ has some great modules on a variety of topics within healthcare and health policy reform.

"Understanding Health Policy - A clinical Approach" by bodenheimer and grumbach is a pretty easy/quick read.

Be prepared with the pros and cons of ACA, and you can win some big points in interviews if it comes up. It didn't come up in all of my interviews, but when it did, interviewers were impressed that we could have a real conversation about it.

If you drive a lot, listen to npr instead of music, and you will learn a lot about current events.

 

[The Milkman]

http://www.kaiseredu.org/ has some great modules on a variety of topics within healthcare and health policy reform.

"Understanding Health Policy - A clinical Approach" by bodenheimer and grumbach is a pretty easy/quick read.

Be prepared with the pros and cons of ACA, and you can win some big points in interviews if it comes up. It didn't come up in all of my interviews, but when it did, interviewers were impressed that we could have a real conversation about it.

If you drive a lot, listen to npr instead of music, and you will learn a lot about current events.

thanks

 

[Barcu]

Yes you should. Not only will it come up in interviews, I think it's also important to have some idea about the system you will enter as a physician. The system can influence how you practice medicine (both in good and bad ways), so it's important to try and understand it a bit. I would recommend being able to have a conversation about the new law (both the good and the bad aspects of it- no matter your political persuasion you should be able to find both).

 

[gmcguitar4]

It's always good to know what you are getting yourself into.

 

[The Milkman]

It's always good to know what you are getting yourself into.

I have plenty of shadowing so I know what I'm getting into in terms of that, but yeah I definately should know what I will be dealing with in terms of the business/legal/healthcare side.

 

[inycepoo]

Obviously you should know the healthcare system once you are a doctor, but how important is understanding how healthcare works in the US during undergrad years, and is it likely to be brought up during secondaries/interviews? Just wondering because as of now, I honestly don't know too much about it.

Too little premeds, med students, residents, physicians, you name it, know enough about the health care system. It's great you're thinking about this already! Health policy is awesome. (Planning on going for an MD/PhD in the field, actually.)

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Obviously you should know the healthcare system once you are a doctor, but how important is understanding how healthcare works in the US during undergrad years, and is it likely to be brought up during secondaries/interviews? Just wondering because as of now, I honestly don't know too much about it.

Just speaking from personal experience, but I was rarely asked about the new healthcare system. I do think it is a good idea to have some opinions on it and be able to discuss some basics if it's brought up. But I wouldn't expect an interviewer to expect you to know any details of the reform or how it works. It is probably good to know since you're going into the field, but I didn't need to know much for my interviews beyond whether or not I thought healthcare reform was good and why.

Just to cover some bases, in case it did come up, I read some of this book. It's a pretty cool read.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Healing-America-Global-Cheaper/dp/B004KAB348

 

[inycepoo]

Many, many in the medical field say what is generally reflected ITT: that they'll learn how the system works in more depth when they actually enter the field, in med school and beyond, and that we as undergrads shouldn't worry too much about it.

That's fine and dandy, but the reality that I've seen and have had doctors agree with is this: you don't have the damn time when you're training and practicing to learn how all this **** works. You'll be so swarmed with medical things to learn, clinic runs to make, and other stuff that learning the macro side of things just isn't on the top of your priority list, especially if you've never been exposed to it and taken an interest early on in your premedical career.

Medical practitioners think they know a lot about the system just because they're a part of it and actively participating, but try thrive on hearsay and myths, not evidence and logical arguments. Ask an average doc about reform and compare it to what KFF or RWJF writes about it. It's astounding. They don't know jack ****, and I don't blame them. If you never get into anything, how are you expected to keep up to date with these things?

I'm generalizing, but this sentiment is held by physicians (at least those I can read about) and health policy experts as well. Medical schools are finally starting to make health policy a required course in MS1, and it's about time.

How important is it for a doctor to know? That's debatable for some, but I'd say a hella lot.

So yay for the OP. As a political science major concentrating in my self-crafted health policy concentration, I find the following helpful for being kept abreast:

The Bible of health policy for practitioners:
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Health-Policy-Sixth-Edition/dp/0071770526
Will give you all the basics and enough details to become informed properly.

NEJM/JAMA "Perspective" pieces. Sign up for eTOCs in your inbox. These are like op-eds and often about policy.

RWJF Briefs. Same thing, inbox notifications when a report or something cool in policy research is published.

Health Affairs, JHPPL, any other top ranked HSR journals. No one has the time to read all the articles, but the former two are monthly and always organized by topic, so reading 2-3 in a month is not out of the question. If something sparks your interest, Google is your friend.

This **** is cool and interesting, and will affect the next generation of physicians like no other generation before us.

 

[loltopsy]

I ran a mock interview for a friend. I asked them what they thought was the most important problem in medicine. They said something about health insurance. I quickly realized they didn't know the difference between health insurance and life insurance. That's probably something important to know.

They don't expect you to be public health experts. Just know your ass end from your face, and you'll be fine. Have an answer primed for 'most important problem in medicine', 'what attributes a physician should have', and 'I can't think of anything else but lists look better in 3s instead of 2s.'

 

[Samir Desai]

As a medical school admissions committee member, I've had the chance to talk with interviewers at my school and elsewhere. I can tell you that interview questions about healthcare issues are common. In answering these questions, you are not expected to be the world's expert or to understand the nuances. Often, the interviewer is assessing whether you are aware of the issues. Are you able to carry on a reasonable conversation about the issue?

Like inycepoo wrote, there is evidence to indicate that those far ahead of you (medical students, residents, physicians) lack deep understanding of these issues. In one study, University of Michigan researchers surveyed more than 58,000 graduating U.S. medical students from 2003 – 2007. Nearly half of the students felt inadequately prepared in understanding the health care system, health economics, managed care, or managing a practice.

In researching my book, the Medical School Interview: Winning Strategies from Admissions Faculty, I examined the websites of all U.S. medical schools to determine how important questions about healthcare issues are. Below are comments from just a few of our nation's medical schools:

• “Specifically, the interviewers will try to determine…What do you know about the practice of medicine and issues in delivery of health care?” (University of Washington School of Medicine)

• “You may be asked to discuss a controversial issue or situations dealing with ethics or professionalism in health care. Be aware of current issues and recent debates in the health field.” (Florida State University College of Medicine)

• “Qualities searched for in an interview…Knowledge of the health care system and its current changes.” (Texas Tech University School of Medicine)

As you can see from the above quotes, your interview preparation should definitely include reading about current issues in healthcare.

Best of luck,

 

[inycepoo]

Like inycepoo wrote, there is evidence to indicate that those far ahead of you (medical students, residents, physicians) lack deep understanding of these issues. In one study, University of Michigan researchers surveyed more than 58,000 graduating U.S. medical students from 2003 – 2007. Nearly half of the students felt inadequately prepared in understanding the health care system, health economics, managed care, or managing a practice.

Yay finally some recognition on this subject so everyone doesn't look at me like I have 40 heads when I make this claim. People tend to assume that those in the health care field naturally know about the professional world in which they work. In fact, imo, medicine is the only field where someone can retire and still not have a flipping clue how the macro system works at all. If the study shows that nearly half "feel" they don't understand, then the number of people who don't even know they don't understand must be whopping.

As you can see from the above quotes, your interview preparation should definitely include reading about current issues in healthcare.

As always, I'm gonna add that it's not important because you'll be interviewed on it. It's important because damn it, you're going to be working in this field and it is of utmost importance that you know how the system is built, what is wrong with it, what is being done to "fix" it, what other options there are, and so on and so forth. It's not easy stuff, but way more important than what most premeds take faith in nowadays.

 

[Samir Desai]

For those of you who are interviewing for med school, you might find an article I wrote in the new issue (September/October) of PreMedLife Magazine useful.

I reached out to some of my medical school admissions colleagues to give you an idea of what interviewers might ask about healthcare issues, why they ask, what they are looking for, and how your answer will be evaluated.

Here is the link:

http://www.premedlife.com/

Best of luck,

Samir Desai

 

[mcloaf]

For those of you who are interviewing for med school, you might find an article I wrote in the new issue (September/October) of PreMedLife Magazine useful.

I reached out to some of my medical school admissions colleagues to give you an idea of what interviewers might ask about healthcare issues, why they ask, what they are looking for, and how your answer will be evaluated.

Here is the link:

http://www.premedlife.com/

Best of luck,

Samir Desai

I was so much happier before I knew that magazine existed.

 

[inycepoo]

I was so much happier before I knew that magazine existed.

An article there recommends all premeds take a course in "Logical & Critical Thinking."

I'd love for the author to 1) find a course like that offered and any respectable institution, and 2) explain clearly how such a course would be structured and taught.

Lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Zelda840]

I took a critical thinking class. It was really interesting. We learned about the most common logical fallacies, how to interpret certain statistics that are meant to deceive, etc.

 

[astronautmd]

Some youtube videos can give you a really good idea. If you want to go to details, I suggest reading health news daily and some health policity book.

 

[TSSVR4]

An article there recommends all premeds take a course in "Logical & Critical Thinking."

I'd love for the author to 1) find a course like that offered and any respectable institution, and 2) explain clearly how such a course would be structured and taught.

Lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Seeing as the author is on the Baylor admissions board I'll take his word on it. (Yeah, yeah, appeal to authority etc etc)