http://healthexecnews.com/more-docs-in-training-is-that-good-news Healthcare Management News and Insights Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:56:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://healthexecnews.com/more-docs-in-training-is-that-good-news/comment-page-1#comment-958 MV Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:01:37 +0000 http://healthexecnews.com/?p=1054#comment-958 Most docs go into medical school not knowing ahead of time what kind of doc they want to be. Throughout medical school and residency, they are exposed to various specialties and subspecialties, and see what it's like to work as a primary care doc and as a specialist. Given the huge loans that docs take to get through med school (on average around $200,000), the prospect of paying back these loans definitely has an impact on their career decisions. However, so do job availability, hours, family life, and many other factors. More and more physicians are choosing careers that give them flexibility and a better balance of family and professional life, and not necessarily subspecialties that traditionally are higher paying. I predict that there will be a glut of primary care physicians, and a shortage of specialists. I am a peds specialist, and work in an area with far more generalists than specialists, and don't see that changing much. Most docs go into medical school not knowing ahead of time what kind of doc they want to be. Throughout medical school and residency, they are exposed to various specialties and subspecialties, and see what it’s like to work as a primary care doc and as a specialist. Given the huge loans that docs take to get through med school (on average around $200,000), the prospect of paying back these loans definitely has an impact on their career decisions. However, so do job availability, hours, family life, and many other factors. More and more physicians are choosing careers that give them flexibility and a better balance of family and professional life, and not necessarily subspecialties that traditionally are higher paying. I predict that there will be a glut of primary care physicians, and a shortage of specialists. I am a peds specialist, and work in an area with far more generalists than specialists, and don’t see that changing much.

]]> http://healthexecnews.com/more-docs-in-training-is-that-good-news/comment-page-1#comment-952 Doctor K Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:52:29 +0000 http://healthexecnews.com/?p=1054#comment-952 Of course we need more GP's particularly in rural areas. Basic GP training takes care of a large majority of the health care activity volume as the first line of defense and thereby leaving the more serious work for specialists. Rather than import doctors from India and the Far East where they have their own domestic needs to fill, let's take reasonably bright us students and let them become doctors and make a committment to a profession as a GP. Of course we need more GP’s particularly in rural areas. Basic GP training takes care of a large majority of the health care activity volume as the first line of defense and thereby leaving the more serious work for specialists. Rather than import doctors from India and the Far East where they have their own domestic needs to fill, let’s take reasonably bright us students and let them become doctors and make a committment to a profession as a GP.

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