Re: AAMC issues letter of support for resident cap legislation
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Sun Mar 25 12:51:16 2007
Gordon
I think the late NY Gov. Al Smith said it best, "No matter how you
slice it, it still comes out baloney."
Art
At Sun, 25 Mar 2007, Gordon Goldman wrote:
>
>Ditto. Been there 'a la 1980's' It is simple matter of supply and
>demand. Flood the market with either physicians or other 'health
>care providers' acceptable to the public and you control the market,
>be it government or private third party payer. Academia and the
>hospital systems buy into this for economic, not altruistic motives.
>
>The general public has been so starved of 'quality medical care' (and
>to paraphrase U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart regarding
>pornography, no, I cannot define it, but I know it when I see it)
>they are now willing to accept even poor quality care vs. no care.
>This acceptance by the general public that some care is better than
>no care is a dangerous precedent that will eventually be more costly
>in terms of life and the quality thereof, as well as expenses to
>eventually rectify it.
>
>Again, to paraphrase, 'just my opinion, I could be wrong'.
>
>--
>Gordon M. Goldman, M.D., FACOG
>Private Practice, St. Louis, Mo.
>
>On Mar 25, 2007, at 11:25 AM, Harrison Sheld wrote:
>
>> Although some authorities suggest a future shortage of physicians,
>> there are at least 2 studies which suggest otherwise. Additionally,
>> there is a sea-change in the the deliverers of health care to which
>> the public, thanks to managed care, are accepting in increasing
>> numbers. It is apparent that physicians are not the only people
>> capable of delivering satisfactory health care.
>>
>> The efforts of the AAMC, based upon perceived shortages, to push
>> for increasing numbers of residents, is an open invitation for the
>> intrusion of federal "guidelines" into the logistics of physician
>> training and distribution.
>>
>> Hospital reimbursement for resident training could be contingent
>> upon these guidelines, including further control on the location,
>> number and kind of residency positions. No doubt the needs of
>> underserved localities will be considered on a national basis as a
>> determining factor on the composition of each resident class.
>> Control of post-graduate medical education, currently enjoyed by
>> medical academia, would pass to a federal bureaucracy. Completing
>> the federalization of medical education, the awarding of the number
>> of medical student loans could depend upon the ability of medical
>> school training programs to fill federally mandated residency
>> positions.
>> The old adage, "be careful what you ask for, you might get it"
>> applies.
>>
--
art fougner, md
"May The Wings of Liberty Never Lose a Feather." - Jack Burton
