Quote:
Originally Posted by perrjojo
One thing is clear, everyone of us has a different opinion. I think it would be good to ask your doctor next time you go in. Why do doctors think less people are going into practice? I am certain there are many reason.
|
There are not fewer people going into practice. There is a change in the field of medicine chosen to practice. Whereas 50 years ago the great majority of MD's went into what we now call primary care, there has been a significant shift toward selection of specialties for medical school graduates. This mostly comes down to dollars, prestige, and life style issues. But the absolute number of MD's and DO's being trained in the US continues to go up just not as quickly as the need and there are problems with distribution by location and specialty. Some of this insufficiency is being filled with NP's and PA's both of which require significantly shorter training programs and are less intensive.