[buckalfa]

"It’s market forces. You need more doctors they will produce more doctors."

You would think, but eight years of college, coupled with four or more years of residency, thrown in with six figure debt allowing you to work in high stress and high regulation environments makes the career of plumbing more appealing.

[cherry]

many drs nowadays avoid private practice and join hospitalist groups and have set hrs....long hrs...hard hrs...but defined hrs and when you're off, you're off...no calls...also, you work several days on, but get several days off in between....many of them also sign on to be the medical chief at retirement homes, assisted living, nursing homes....not a bad income...

drs work hard and have to be smart....but sometimes you look at teachers with their fluffy degrees and all the time off and perks and you wonder is it worth going to college/med school/being an intern....and the money it costs...

lets face it...we've made liberal arts a better job than the hard sciences..

[Pining_4_TX]

All of this mess was caused by government intervention in health care. Government is now the major payer and it restricts what it pays hospitals and doctors. Not only that, but trial lawyers have made malpractice insurance almost unaffordable. It’s no wonder many people have decided that becoming a doctor isn’t worth the sacrifice.

When you have socialized medicine like the UK (and it’s close here), you have crappy doctors and crappy health care. Be prepared, for the situation is only going to get worse unless doctors are allowed to work in a free market. Too bad so many doctors don’t understand that.