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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. rolisz · · focus · HN ↗
      Are you sure you can find that many more doctors? That they'll be any good?

      Speaking from Romania: here medicine is prestigious. So many parents push their kids towards medicine. There's a glut of newly minted doctors every year, but rumour has it that the quality drops every year. Sure, they pass the exams and residency and what not, but... They're just not into medicine as much.

      Do you want to get treated by such a person?

      This year I had to go to a neurologist. I went to one locally, they dismissed me in 5 minutes, told me to take some vitamins basically. Went to another one in a much bigger city, they talked to me for an hour, ordered a ton of tests.

      Would it help if we get a lot more of the first kind of doctors?

      1. elil17 · · focus · HN ↗
        You get the same problems in the US with the attitudes of doctors.

        In the US, medical school is extremely expensive (like $400,000 expensive). There are many people who are excellent doctors who are just priced out of the profession. If we could make medical school less expensive (by subsidizing it and by reducing the amount of instruction), we would probably get many more excellent doctors.

        1. fusslo · · focus · HN ↗
          I'd love to vote for loan forgiveness for anyone who successfully qualifies and practices as a doctor

          We have the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program where qualifying public servants pay 10 years of their loans and the rest is forgiven tax free.

          Removing financial stress from doctors seems like a public good most people could get behind

          1. nradov · · focus · HN ↗
            Several US states have programs which pay off medical school loans for physicians who practice in under served rural areas.
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