What specialties can be outsourced or mostly automated requiring less number of doctors in next 15-20-25 years?
e.g. Radiology?? Psychiatry? or any other?
e.g. Radiology?? Psychiatry? or any other?
Yeah haven't you heard? They just pushed out Lithium vending machines in all major cities.....psychiatry????
Encroachment is a much bigger threat to any specialty than automation is.
Honestly it’s hard for me to imagine any world in which AI completely replaces any specialist, even imaging-based fields like radiology. The most competent AI imaginable can still get bugs or break down, and the only people who will be trained enough to know when that happens and how to fix it will be medical specialists. At worst physicians may move to a supervising role but I don’t see how AI can exclude human involvement entirely.I second this. Loss of practice territory to other physicians (see the turf war for valve replacement in cards vs ct surg), to mid levels (see FM/EM), etc.
Sure, one can imagine a world where competent AI and robots replace even the most specialized proceduralists. However, getting to that point requires a metric boatload of time, energy, and money. Odds are good that you will be nearing the end of your career, if not literally deceased, by the time this becomes a real threat.
If midlevels can regurg facts and get independent practice, why can’t AI? I’d trust AI more than midlevels to practice independently tbhOutsource/AI replacement is something is a common pre-med/start of medical school concern. They view medicine as regurgitation of a bunch of facts. Couple that with neuroticism and you get a bunch of threads about machines replacing doctors. Once you start clinical medicine, you recognize how unrealistic this is.
If midlevels can regurg facts and get independent practice, why can’t AI? I’d trust AI more than midlevels to practice independently tbh
Sure hasn't slowed things down too much so far...Outsource/AI replacement is something is a common pre-med/start of medical school concern. They view medicine as regurgitation of facts because that's what they are exposed to. Couple that with neuroticism and you get a bunch of threads about machines replacing doctors. Once you start clinical medicine, you recognize how unrealistic this is.
In terms of mid levels, I don't see them as an existential threat to any field. The world is going to get more litigatory and Americans always best and hence want a doctor, not an NP/PA.
This has become very apparent with each note I write as a M3Because AI can't walk, talk, and get sued.
On a more serious note, medicine is never black/white. The condition of a patient's heart can not be reduced to some lines printed on paper that represent vectors of electrical current. That it just one data point physicians used in their assessment. When you go into the room, what does the patient look like, how do they feel, how did your conversation go. The ability for humans to assess that amongst each other is what we're evolved to do.
When a patient gets discharged, the discharge summary is forced to include a set of discrete conditions the patient had, but those are in essence a set of best guesses based on clinical reasoning. Someone has to input discrete answers into AI for there to be accurate answers. Most things in medicine are not discrete.
Going back to the original formula of 7 Up, I see.Yeah haven't you heard? They just pushed out Lithium vending machines in all major cities.
Not today, but what about in 15-20-25 years? Lot changed in last 25 years.Im not aware of any AI that can perform decent interpretations of radiographs. More to radiology than "yes or no".
Not today, but what about in 15-20-25 years? Lot changed in last 25 years.
true, but hopefully I will have saved enough to retire by that time. I plan on having a FIRE mentality early career.
There is an artificially low number of physicians in this country due to AMA lobbying. It doesn’t do our patients or our lifestyles and favors. Does help the wallet though (questionably).
I thought the same until I looked more into this topic. Here's something interesting, in psychiatry, chatbots like Wysa, Lantern, Joyable, Woebot, and X2AI which mimicked cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) showed equal or even greater performance than traditional CBT with a psychiatrist. Though it won't replace psychiatrists, it can be a good transitionary alternative for a significant number of underserved individuals (up to 85% don't get psych care in low/middle income countries). Though there are still advancements to be made, I wouldn't be so confident in writing off AI solely because people crave human encounters. AI can help with particularly the self management of psychiatric illnesses. Though I do agree, the full integration of AI to replace doctors is overhyped.People hate speaking to automated phone operators-- anything with face-to-face value isn't going away unless people entirely stop existing as physical entities and instead transition into the virtual ether; which again, people hate speaking to automated phone operators. The potential integration of AI is overhyped and has a hard stop at the hard problem of consciousness.
Honestly I do not understand this. I’d happily take a more normal salary for highly educated, technical professions like 150k (rather than 300+) if it means the system works better as a whole and if I don’t have to work as hard. Debt sucks but PART of the high cost of healthcare and justification for high cost of med school is how much physicians are paid, so you’d expect that debt load would be lower too.Im sure your lifestyle is going to be great when you finish residency and can no longer find a job at a salary equivalent to current incomes.
What percentage of healthcare costs are the physicians salary?Honestly I do not understand this. I’d happily take a more normal salary for highly educated, technical professions like 150k (rather than 300+) if it means the system works better as a whole and if I don’t have to work as hard. Debt sucks but PART of the high cost of healthcare and justification for high cost of med school is how much physicians are paid, so you’d expect that debt load would be lower too.
The cost of healthcare in the US attributed to physician income is something like 8% so I dont think that's an accurate statement.Honestly I do not understand this. I’d happily take a more normal salary for highly educated, technical professions like 150k (rather than 300+) if it means the system works better as a whole and if I don’t have to work as hard. Debt sucks but PART of the high cost of healthcare and justification for high cost of med school is how much physicians are paid, so you’d expect that debt load would be lower too.
Honestly I do not understand this. I’d happily take a more normal salary for highly educated, technical professions like 150k (rather than 300+) if it means the system works better as a whole and if I don’t have to work as hard. Debt sucks but PART of the high cost of healthcare and justification for high cost of med school is how much physicians are paid, so you’d expect that debt load would be lower too.
The cost of healthcare in the US attributed to physician income is something like 8% so I dont think that's an accurate statement.
Ok the fact that wiping out just $50k of debt is being represented as the “Far left” position says a lot. Outside of pay, there’s a lot of other career perks to being a physician (best job security of any job ever, high autonomy, direct interaction with people who will benefit from your work, more respect than any other profession) so I don’t think that’s a fair comparison at all.Because engineers can make 100k out of college with the right background. By going your route I will have wasted 10 years of my life in medical training just to make 50k more in salary than a college graduate
Not to mention the fact that Congress "lowering debt" will affect everyone, not just doctors. So effectively I could have been an engineer with zero debt and 100k salary at 22 years of age versus a doctor with 150k salary at 35 and 200k debt instead of 250k debt.
When you run the numbers its crazy how bad a deal becoming a doctor will be if the far left gets their plans enacted.
Yeah, the statistics for the increase in the number of physicians compared to the increase in hospital administrators are crazy... yet somehow the docs are the problem?Meanwhile, administrative bloat, hospital systems, and insurance companies are 90%+. What's the easiest thing to get rid of in this list, hmmm???
What percentage of healthcare costs are the physicians salary?
Edit: also, the high cost of medical school is not due to justification based on future earnings, it’s because it costs money to train physicians (and to some degree likely due to administrative costs). You can look at historical cost of medical school in the US vs physician income and inflation. Physician income has always been high, especially relative to the general population, while the cost for medical school has not been so.
Why Has the Cost of Medical School Skyrocketed?
www.savvypremed.com
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How Much Does It Actually Cost to Go to Medical School?
It’s no secret medical school is getting more expensive. So how are the future doctors of covering this expanding price tag? Here’s a look.www.sofi.com
The cost of healthcare in the US attributed to physician income is something like 8% so I dont think that's an accurate statement.
Agree with all this. Physician pay is only part of the equation. Much bigger fish to fry. That said, I have dug into how my school determines tuition price and it has NOTHING to do with the cost of training a physician. It is a simple formula: 110% of average tuition from an arbitrary ten member list of our peer schools.Meanwhile, administrative bloat, hospital systems, and insurance companies are 90%+. What's the easiest thing to get rid of in this list, hmmm???
These are sadly debatable....Outside of pay, there’s a lot of other career perks to being a physician...high autonomy...more respect than any other profession...
Outside of pay, there’s a lot of other career perks to being a physician (best job security of any job ever, high autonomy, direct interaction with people who will benefit from your work, more respect than any other profession) so I don’t think that’s a fair comparison at all.
1. Job security will decrease as we increase residency slots. See rad onc
2. High autonomy - what? I don't think even doctors believe they have autonomy.
3. direct interaction with people - could be a positive or negative based on the person
4. respect - lol. The public sentiment regarding physicians is not positive my friend.
All in all, I would trade 2, 3, and 4 for a higher salary any day of the week.
Sidestepping the political implications...Because engineers can make 100k out of college with the right background. By going your route I will have wasted 10 years of my life in medical training just to make 50k more in salary than a college graduate
Not to mention the fact that Congress "lowering debt" will affect everyone, not just doctors. So effectively I could have been an engineer with zero debt and 100k salary at 22 years of age versus a doctor with 150k salary at 35 and 200k debt instead of 250k debt.
When you run the numbers its crazy how bad a deal becoming a doctor will be if the far left gets their plans enacted.
The bolded, louder for the pre-meds in the back.Sidestepping the political implications...
A talented engineer who finds his/her niche early in their career, moves up quickly, and makes financially savvy decisions will likely accumulate a comparable if not larger sum of money than a physician by retirement with a higher quality of life. It's not the rare 1/million people suggest.
There's unfortunately nothing that says we as physicians are entitled to more because we sacrificed our 20s. Going into medicine, I knew there were other fields my friends were doing that may offer a better lifestyle/higher overall earnings, but I honestly had no interest in them, liked biology, and wanted to do what the people I shadowed did.
The good news for physicians is that I imagine we all choose medicine because we enjoyed providing to do something challenging to help vulnerable people and as the pathway moves along, you'll realize you do make differences and there will be several ways to earn money within and outside medicine.
Big here. We are privileged to spend our 20s learning about the human body and healing. This shift in thought and self-conceptualizing of medicine would help greatly with general medical student mental health. Always thought it was weird to me to view this as a "sacrifice" but that's me, I recognize my bias.The bolded, louder for the pre-meds in the back.
Big here. We are privileged to spend our 20s learning about the human body and healing. This shift in thought and self-conceptualizing of medicine would help greatly with general medical student mental health. Always thought it was weird to me to view this as a "sacrifice" but that's me, I recognize my bias.
honestly we are privileged also in the sense we are given 20-25K a year to live off while we study. Sure we have to pay it back plus interest but I've never been financially worried while in med school and I'm 100% on loans and live alone.Big here. We are privileged to spend our 20s learning about the human body and healing. This shift in thought and self-conceptualizing of medicine would help greatly with general medical student mental health. Always thought it was weird to me to view this as a "sacrifice" but that's me, I recognize my bias.
honestly we are privileged also in the sense we are given 20-25K a year to live off while we study. Sure we have to pay it back plus interest but I've never been financially worried while in med school and I'm 100% on loans and live alone.
When people are saying med school is a sacrifice, they are referring to this principle of opportunity cost, and there are dozens of more substantial opportunities lost than not being able to be a couch potato. There is sacrifice in every decision we make, and our decisions are influenced by whether those sacrifices are worth the benefits.
Do you mind giving examples? I'm honestly curious. Maybe I'm missing something.
Compare the earnings of a primary care doctor under the AOC/far left proposals versus a UPS driver who is aggressively saving in the SP500 or AAPL over the last decade. Then you will have your answer.
I agree with slowthai the “sacrifice” concept makes no sense. If so, my brother is “sacrificing” his 20’s to get a PhD. My sister sacrificed her 20’s to get teaching credentials and do her internships/apprenticeships/whatever they’re called. Had to bounce between multiple temporary jobs. As a non-read I had a number of jobs prior to med school as well. I had three one one time at one point.It's considered a sacrifice due to the opportunity costs involved with medical education. Getting the wonderful privilege of medical education comes at the expense of other benefits of working in the 20s. Even if you decided to be a couch potato instead of going to med school, there is an opportunity cost involved. Going to med school now means you don't have the opportunity to be a couch potato. Thus, this would be defined as something you "sacrifice" by going to med school. When people are saying med school is a sacrifice, they are referring to this principle of opportunity cost, and there are dozens of more substantial opportunities lost than not being able to be a couch potato. There is sacrifice in every decision we make, and our decisions are influenced by whether those sacrifices are worth the benefits.
Anyone who believes there is no sacrifice in attending medical school are either zealously blinded by idealism or have no real-life experience