Quote:
Originally Posted by blueash
The patient profile of a doctor here is going to be reasonably healthy senior citizen, period. Very few doctors want to have a practice of managing our demographic unless they are in geriatrics and enjoy it. Family doctors are trained to treat all ages and spend a little time training in elder care. They would want to see kids, teens, young adults... Specialists may expect to see fewer young people but most can expect good continuity and to be able to manage their patients. We, as patients, often have another set of doctors "back home" and many seem to leave the area when an illness worsens. Combine this with a severe lack of younger adults and kids for the doctor's family social life, and yes it is harder to get doctors to come here other than those into geriatrics and those nearer retirement age themselves.
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Well, that's interesting. Do you really think the demographics of a primary care practice here is different than anywhere else, PERIOD? And your insight into what type of patient a doctor wants to see is based on what? The average age of a patient in my NY practice was probably about 45-50, but the average age of the patients that actually came to be seen was in the 70's. Pediatricians want to see kids, that's obvious. Gynecologists want to see women, oncologists want to treat cancer. Family practitioners will see who they want. Specialists want to do procedures. I very much doubt "demographics" in TV has a lot to do with recruiting.