Will there really be a physicians shortage in the future?

[PerseveranceJoe]

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Been researching, googling, searching on the internet. I just want to get some opinions on studentdoctor.net. Is it true that there will be a shortage of physicians in the near future?

 

[Dr. Hopeful]

I thought the physician shortage was mainly only a shortage in primary care physicians. I could be wrong, but that's definitely the message that I believe schools were trying to send us through their secondary application questions.

 

[hawruh]

No

 

[csx]

A lotta people say it's manufactured. I've heard people say it is strange that they make it increasingly more difficult to get into medical school (ie: new mcat) but cry physician shortage.

 

[costales]

There is a shortage which is location and specialty dependent.

 

[Mad Jack]

No. They'll use any perceived lack of physicians as an excuse to expand midlevel practice and use second tier caregivers as a way to plug up the holes in care.

The real question is, will the be a shortage of competent care in the future? Oh yes, yes there will be.

 

[CUNYguy]

No. They'll use any perceived lack of physicians as an excuse to expand midlevel practice and use second tier caregivers as a way to plug up the holes in care.

The real question is, will the be a shortage of competent care in the future? Oh yes, yes there will be.

I feel that this is the reason why there's psych, soc, and biochem added onto the prerequisite list, and the new MCAT. As medicine changes, the requirements will have to change. The foundation of medical school will stay the same, because the human body is the same, and will be the same for the next millenia. The only difference that I feel would change would be the pharmacalogy part; but in regards to OMS'es out there, OMM/OMT has stayed the same with very minor tweeks for 100+ years, so I don't feel that there will be any groundbreaking OMM/OMT techniques that haven't already been explored, especially because of the lack of funding allocated to OMM/OMT research.

They are trying to use RPA's and NP's to plug up holes, but that's not a good tool. There was an article back a few months ago (maybe May/June) where the NYTimes wrote about how these midlevel physicians helping out family practice locations are ordering more procedures than is necessary (CT, MRI, fMRI, PET, etc.), and they're not reading them as a physician would, hence wasting the patient's time, and quality of care. RPA's and NP's need to move with physicians, but I'm not sure in that realm where things will end up, because I haven't researched much about it.

But back to the point about competent physician/health care, I feel that there would be, since there will soon be less conflict between MD vs. DO, so we can finally focus on our patients, instead of ranting about who the superior race is. Medicine should be about our patients, not a dick-measuring contest.

 

[AM508]

I know, at least where I currently live, a lot of the physicians are in the vicinity of retirement age (mid 60's). In one locale alone here there are at least 10 physicians slated to retire this coming year. Many of these physicians may have kept practicing for a few more years, but with increasing regulations and a push to move to electronic records are opting to retire instead. At least on a local level, this will lead to a shortage.

 

[feeling-dizzy]

There is always shortage in rural area. Will there ever be shortage in big cities like New York, Los Angles, Chicago...? I think not. But out of no where like Montana, Alaska, Dakotas (sorry); there will always be. I remember when I lived in rural area; I have a heck of a time to even find a primary care provider that even accepting new patients (that only provider makes me wait 2 months before initial exam; but I still have to take it) . Now in Orange County, not a problem. So to answer your question, if we divide equally doctors (heck, all health care providers) equally among population/area in the U.S., then the distribution should be adaquate/sufficent, but since there is a huge skewed toward big cities; there will always shortage (or extremelly shortage) in underserved/rural area.

 

[diesel2101]

99% of pre-meds/accepted med students have no idea the answer to this question.

 

[deleted390966]

99% of pre-meds/accepted med students have no idea the answer to this question.

So what is the answer?

 

[CUNYguy]

So what is the answer?

It's conditional according to population sizes.

 

[cryhavoc]

I bet it is based on limited "residency" spots and location.

If it takes you 6 months to get into a dermatologist's office, chances are they aren't making enough dermatologists.

If you got to offer to pay off people's loans to get them to pull bullets out of people in low-income areas, chances are no one wants to work in that area.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I bet it is based on limited "residency" spots and location.

If it takes you 6 months to get into a dermatologist's office, chances are they aren't making enough dermatologists.

If you got to offer to pay off people's loans to get them to pull bullets out of people in low-income areas, chances are no one wants to work in that area.

You tend to have to wait longer for a primary care doc (especially if you are a new patient) than you would for a specialist. One of the primary reasons behind this is that for many specialties, you need some sort of referral (from a PCP) to get a slot at the specialist's office. The PCP tend to be the gatekeeper and have to do more sifting between a larger volume of patients. This does not apply as much to derm though (since you happened to mention derm). But for a lot of other specialties, its true.

 

[diesel2101]

So what is the answer?

The hell if I know. I haven't stepped foot in medical school yet.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

As said before, it's location and specialty related as an issue. There's no shortage of Cardiac Surgeons in NYC or LA. But there's a shortage of General Surgeons and Primary Care Physicians in Rural North Carolina.

 

[deleted390966]

I bet it is based on limited "residency" spots and location.

I wonder why people speak of "limited residency spots" when 1 out of 4 spots is filled by an international graduate (IMG)...

 

[CUNYguy]

I wonder why people speak of "limited residency spots" when 1 out of 4 spots is filled by an international graduate (IMG)...

I see what you mean, but then again, we are a country where we give equal opportunity, so we can't be so closed up to IMG/FMGs, right? I think we need to open more hospitals and more travelling doctors within them. Like, M-Th office/hospital (depending if you're a hospitalist or office-based clinician), and F is home visits. But then again, I do want to get more biostats under my belt before I say any more.