Posted on 07/26/2009 3:47:44 PM PDT by bintenn
Shortage of primary-care physicians leaves clinics short-handed Christ Community Health Services struggles
By Lindsay Melvin (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Sunday, July 26, 2009
By midafternoon, nearly every seat is full in the waiting room at Christ Community Health Services in Binghamton.
Babies gurgle congested cries as people wait to see some of the only family-care doctors in their neighborhood. Dr. Rick Donlon, one of the founders of Christ Community Health Services, has been trying to convince medical students to think about becoming primary-care physicians and giving care to underserved people instead of going for highly paid specialties.
Dr. Rick Donlon, one of the founders of Christ Community Health Services, has been trying to convince medical students to think about becoming primary-care physicians and giving care to underserved people instead of going for highly paid specialties. Audrey Richardson, a senior medical student at the University of Michigan, examines Lilia Hernandez. Richardson is in Memphis to gain experience at Christ Community Health Services.
(Excerpt) Read more at commercialappeal.com ...
I agree.... obamacare in action.....
An MD friend was telling me that the reason doctors go into specialties is that they can make enough money as a specialist to pay off their educational debt. Until the pay for primary care physicians increases to the point where the economics are attractive, there will continue to be a shortage - it’s a pretty simple calculation for a young MD who is looking at the options.
Of course, Obamacare will do nothing of the kind and the problem will only get worse as the feds start to dictate salaries and costs.
One quarter of our doctors now are foreign trained. I guess we will have to import more doctors.
What is the incentive for college student to go to medical school when...
1) You must take out hundreds of thousands of student loans.
2) Pay hundreds of thousands in malpractice insurance.
3) Do continuing unfunded state required continuing ed.
4) Fight to get accepted to medical schools that allow minorities to matriculate with substandard grades and MCAT when they require the very best from you.
5) Then get Socialized Medicine forced on you where government officials like Nancy Pelosi will determine what is best for you and the patient.
6) Then finally get your paycheck where ever doctor is paid the same by the government and their is no incentive to excel as the worst doctor is paid the same as the best.
7) Face prison and steep government fines if you don’t have your paperwork exactly the way the government requires.
Sounds like a great profession.
How many illegal aliens were served by that dwindling number of physicians? Multiply that by at least five times after ObamaCare kicks in.
somehow, “underserved” seems disingenuous.
Medicaid would already cover this for Citizens and legal Resident aliens, right?
actually, this is the prescription for a serious qualified doctor shortage... I know about the affirmative action doctors... that is why I won’t go to any. Most of them are just not qualified, and I don’t know which is which.
Student debt can be around $300,000 when including college, med school, and the plain costs of living those 10-12 years. A primary care might make $150,000 while a noninvasive cardiologist might make $300,000.
A lot. MY GF is an RN in one of the Valley hospitals here in L.A. and most of the first point primary drs. are USC grads. What concerns her is that most of them are clueless and even the lowliest LVN know the correct treatment.
Christ Community has four health centers that offer services ranging from adult, newborn, and pediatric care to obstetrics, gynecology, dentistry, and pharmacy.
• Broad Avenue Health Center
• Frayser Health Center
• Third Street Health Center
• Orange Mound Health Center
In addition, we have a mobile clinic that provides complete primary care services to the homeless at Memphis Union Mission and Dozier House (in cooperation with Baptist College of Health Sciences) and to refugees at Refugee Services (in cooperation with Associated Catholic Charitites).
Christ Community will serve anyone who needs assistance, regardless of insurance or the ability to pay. Fees are determined on a sliding scale based on the patient’s income.
http://www.christcommunityhealth.org/health.htm
And with ObamaCare specialists get paid the same amount of money as general practitioners, in the UK someone told me they dont do that, but ObamaCare is Marxism in action. Who isnt going to become a cardiologist if they are not gonna be paid for the extra schooling.
You will have to use sign language to communicate with Ahab your new witch doctor.
You will have to use sign language to communicate with Ahab your new witch doctor.
The truth is that there is a shortage of doctors all around. The shortage is just more pronounced in the primary care category because the doctors see that they have their choice: They can do primary care, or they can specialize and make a whole lot more money.
A lot. MY GF is an RN in one of the Valley hospitals here in L.A. and most of the first point primary drs. are USC grads. What concerns her is that most of them are clueless and even the lowliest LVN know the correct treatment.
I heard from a doc who just moved from the area that California healthcare is abysmal. No clue. I dont know where the California docs come from but they are supposed to be almost as bad as the Western New York docs.
A word of caution, just because you are going to a specialist doesn't mean he is an expert in his field. Do your research and choose a doctor who sub specializes in the condition you have.
Any doctor that works in one of those clinics is either a lousy doctor or nuts.
No one would go to one except a welfare case or an illegal alien!
For those who don’t believe that there is Affirmative Action in medical school selection of students.
It exists.
Read this rationale for allowing in unqualifed students all in the name of ‘diversity’.
“Students cannot be selected solely on academic qualifications, for instance, on the basis of Grade Point Averages (GPA) and Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores. ...
Race-conscious programs allow for the factoring of societal or group-based adversity into medical school admission selection process.”
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/3/6
Thank you for that. I KNEW it was real, but did not have the facts, only what I personally saw happening.
Nothing is free.
The organizations taking care of the patients will start using physician extenders like PAs and advanced practice nurses.
This will be ok for the routine run of the mill problems but missed diagnoses for more complicated problems will become the rule.
Then there will be dissatisfaction with missed diagnoses and treatment outcomes.
Complaints will result in lawsuits.
They will blame the physicians in charge of supervising the midlevel providers.
This will exacerbate the physician shortage.
"F" em. This is what they deserve.
Just strictly limit resident hours to 50 hours a week for internal medicine and general pediatrics residents, and dump the National Match system in favor of open interviews and negotiations like any other professional employment, and med school grads will be lining up for this career path.
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