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Doctor Shortage
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A doctor shortage is a situation in which there are not enough doctors to treat all the patients. Developing nations often have doctor shortages due to a shortage in schools. Doctor shortages are now a problem in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. Causes *Overpopulation *Large high school & college dropout rate *Too few medical schools *Strict med school requirements weed out many med students, preventing many from becoming doctors. *Expensive med school tuition *Not enough scholorships/financial aid to med students *Low pay for practicing doctors (as in socialized health care) *Many doctors retire under socialized health care *Many med students don't want to be general practitioners (GP), because they get lower pay than medical specialists. *brain drain *Limited enrollment of med schools *Racial quotas block out white doctors from enrolling in med school. *The number of medical students is highly controlled by the funding provided by the federal government for medical education. This is the most important limitation in the supply of physicians. Effects *Deaths of the uninsured in a private health care system - Many Americans die each year of curable diseases because they don't have health insurance to pay for expensive life-saving medical treatments. 101,000 people died this way (2008). *Deaths during months-long waits in a social health care system *Less competition among doctors, causing greater demand for them *More expensive cost of both private and social health care, by the rules of supply and demand *Wealthier doctors - Many doctors are millionaires in U.S. *Too many patients per doctor causes tired overworked doctors. Since they are on call 24 hours a day, doctors get less sleep. *Tired doctors make more mistakes in surgery, mis-diagnosis, wrong doses of medicines, or wroung medicines altogether. Prescription handwriting becomes more illegible causing pharmacies to give the wrong medicine to patients. About 100,000 patients die in the U.S. hospitals each year from accidental injuries, medication errors, and adverse drug reactions. *Doctors cannot afford the insurance and malpractice lawsuits. They are driven to retire. Malpractice lawsuits increase the cost of doctor bills and health insurance. *Shorter doctor appointments Proposed Solutions *Under-population *Lower high school & college dropout rate *More medical schools *Bigger med school classrooms *Higher med school enrollment limits *Looser med school requirements *Cheaper med school tuition *More financial aid for students *Free med school *Less wars/conflicts to prevent brain drain *Doctors make more money under private health care system, encouraging more people to become doctors. *No pre-med bachelor degree required. Medical school becomes a 5 or 6 year post-high school program instead. This makes overall school tuition cheaper for med students, reducing their debt. *Use nurse practitioners and physician assistants more *Expand the National Health Service Corps for rural areas Internal Links *Health Insurance See Also
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