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Re: Doctor ShortageFrom: DoctorJoe@aol.comSat Dec 13 05:47:32 2003
In a message dated 12/13/03 00:17:58, islesannie@yahoo.com writes:
> I beg to differ - you don't have to be "way out in the boonies" - you Let's not forget the sociologic (?) pattern that develops with the prolonged medical education system we have in the U.S.: 1) To get in medical school, a kid needs a "good" college record, so he goes to a "good" college, usually in a fairly big town, a college town (e.g. Austin, TX, South Bend, IN, etc.) for 4 years. So while he may be from "the boonies" and want to return to "the boonies," he lives 4 years of his life in the big city. 2) When he gets IN medical school, he's usually in a big town, with a big teaching hospital, yada, yada, yada. Now he's 8 years away from Mom and Pop in "the boonies." 3) Of course, now he's got to do a residency, even the briefest of which is 3 years. And those 3 years are in a residency program in a teaching hospital in a fair sized city. Now he's 11 years (or more) away from Mom and Pop in "the boonies." And at this point, if he's by the clock, he's about 29 years old (assuming he finished high school and started college at age 18). So here we have a kid who's been living in the big city, away from "the boonies," for over 1/3 of his life, and we expect him to go back and work there? And still, there's a kicker.... 4) Somewhere along the way, after age 18, somewhere in the big city college, or the big city medical school, or the big city residency, our young doctor meets his honey - and they get married. And what's the chance that honey is from "the boonies," or is she from the big city? So how is he going to go back to "the boonies" when he's lived over 1/3 of his life in the city, he's married to a girl from the city, and on top of that the little hospital back at Mom and Pop's town doesn't have the support and stuff he's learned to use? If he gets an "interesting" patient, he has to transfer! Where's the fun in that?? So there's a sociological snag in the system which tends to keep doctors in bigger metropolitan areas, even if they intend early in their careers to go back home and work in "the boonies" where they were born. It's just our system. That's why some schools have initiated programs for students to do blocks or rotations where they go out into "the boonies" and follow a family doc around and get "inspired" to do that kind of work (early indoctrination attempt). I don't know whether this is very successful or not (especially since honey doesn't go on the rotation with them). Joe P. P.S. This is not meant to be sexist. You can change "he" to "she" and change "honey" to "bubba" and it all works the same way - even worse, since bubba, being a male, probably feels like he has an "important" job in the city and Dr. Wifey isn't going to drag him out in "the boonies" into a dead-end career. On the other hand, he could retire and just fish and hunt.... hmmmmm.
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