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The darker side of being a doctor

282 points · 342 comments · Danhale93

  1. estearum · · focus · HN ↗
    (speaking from US): The reality is we need more doctors. A lot more.

    There's no solution other than training a lot, lot, lot, lot more doctors.

    Their salaries need to be lower, training needs to be cheaper and faster, and we need a lot more of them.

    1. lolakutty · · focus · HN ↗
      > The reality is we need more doctors. A lot more.

      No, the reality is we should be more healthy, so we need less doctors.

      1. killingtime74 · · focus · HN ↗
        While you're at it why not no crime so there's no police. Nothing dangerous so no firemen. Nobody throws anything away, so no need for factories. Peace on earth, so no soldiers.
      2. layer8 · · focus · HN ↗
        I think you’re not sufficiently taking into account the demographic trajectory of age distribution [0], and the lag induced by the length of the human lifespan on health improvements. For the next few decades, more doctors will be needed.

        [0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.calculatedriskblog.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;08&#x2F;us-population-distribution-by-age-1900.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.calculatedriskblog.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;08&#x2F;us-population-dis...

      3. victorbjorklund · · focus · HN ↗
        We don&#x27;t need firemen. Just don&#x27;t start fires.
        1. lolakutty · · focus · HN ↗
          That is a good analogy. Let us consider that there is a growing number of fire events in the recent years. Instead of finding out what is causing it, and fixing it we are asking for more firemen....
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