We have to turn back the ⏰

[Jolly]

It's bad enough that rural hospitals are closing and we are creating medical deserts, but now I'm seeing docs leaving smaller cities for larger cities. Mostly specialists. And the guys that are left are getting rolled. Worse, some specialties like endocrinologist, are disappearing from the smaller medical hubs.

Is this phenomenon purely economic? Or are other forces at play?

[Klaus]

I lived in Denmark for two years. They are rather extreme in this regard. People would often need to travel 100km for a hospital, despite high population density.

It’s annoying, but it doesn’t seem to have a huge effect on health, and their health system is cheap.

[George K]

@jolly said in We have to turn back the :

I'm seeing docs leaving smaller cities for larger cities. Mostly specialists.

The days of the independent doc are gone, probably never to return.

These guys want to be employees, with standard hours, standard salaries, standard benefits, and they want to bow to their corporate overlords.

It's a totally different culture than it was 20 years ago. Somewhere I read that about half of all docs (or more?) are employees of a corporation or a hospital.

Bob, my internist who retired last year lamented this, even though he was part of a very large practice (DMG) which he helped found.

[Axtremus]

@george-k said in We have to turn back the :

These guys want to be employees, with standard hours, standard salaries, standard benefits, …

Wonder if there are comparable trends among the lawyers and the accountants.

We often read a lot of people migrating to doing “gig work,” but from what you say, doctors are going the other way?

[George K]

From 2 years ago:

https://www.ama-assn.org/about/research/employed-physicians-now-exceed-those-who-own-their-practices

Which leads me to ask: What employers are there out in the boonies and rural areas?

[LuFins Dad]

I would tend to think that the “great exodus” from the cities will alleviate the problem, as will the “great resignation”.

[Doctor Phibes]

@lufins-dad said in We have to turn back the :

I would tend to think that the “great exodus” from the cities will alleviate the problem, as will the “great resignation”.

If that doesn't take care of it, the much-predicted civil war and/or Muslim takeover and/or Communist autocracy will take your mind off things.

I'm beginning to think that the Douglas Adams solution might be a good idea. We tell everybody the world is ending and we need to evacuate into space, and then we put all the 'influencers', reality-TV stars, politicians, media pundits, life-style consultants, etc. on one ship, and tell them the rest of the population is going to be on the second ship.

Of course, there's no second ship.