Replies

The U.S. population is aging, so the demand for docs is steadily going up. There is also a heightened demand for our services, both because of the emphasis on preventative care and increased expectations of the population. Also, the physician workforce is going from 95% male to about 55% female. Women physicians are interested in a more balanced life for the most part than their workaholic male counterparts, so they are less productive. Most American medical schools are not willing to lower their academic requirements, unlike those of most of the rest of the world. Hence, relatively fewer highly qualified medical trainees from American schools. Where do think the rest will come from?

BTW, I'm told by someone who trained a year in Paris that the way they keep their doctor fees low there is that they allow virtually anyone who wants to go to medical school to do so. The market is flooded by physicians who must rachet down their fees accordingly. There are some outstanding docs in France, and a whole lot of bad ones. But at least they are reasonably priced.

. "Most American medical schools are not willing to lower their academic requirements"

Their requirements seeem so high, that lowering them a little wouldn't be pproblem. In fact, it woould help weed out the lesser educated foreign docs coming into the country. Which do you think most people here would rather see? A student who got into Penn St. with a 3.5, or a guy with a degree from the Phillipines?

Sorry, but it seems to me the French schools went too far, and the American med schools aren't doing enough. The U.S. schools seem to be making the problem worse. It seems they'll have to lower their admissions requirements eventually, and the time is now, since the baby boomers(and I am one) will all need care shortly.