It's gettin' sporty out here...
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Riffing off of 89th's stone thread...
One of my friends fell while working on a ladder a couple of days ago. The medflighted him to a Level 2 Trauma Center in town. Diagnosed with a compound fracture of the femur, he stayed in a ED hallway on a gurney for hours, then an ED room for hours (over 17 hours, total).
The ED doc then walked in and told him they were transferring him to Lafayette, so they medflighted him a second time. The guys down at Lafayette were waiting on him and he went from the pad to surgery. Surgery was successful, but he'll never go through another metal detector again without a loud beep.
I'm still waiting for further explanation, but the reason his wife was given for the surgery not being done locally, was a lack of a trauma surgeon and an available ortho. Folks...This hospital is a Level 2 Trauma Center. They are a 300 bed hospital (used to be 400). This is not Podunk Central. And they are a HCA hospital. The metropolitan population is about 170,000.
And you ain't got a trauma surgeon? I do know the area is in bad shape for thoracic guys...It's down to two. Until last month, no endocrinologist for months. Gastric guys? Three, where there used to be a half-dozen. There is only one major ophthalmology group left. GU guys? Half of what it was five years ago. Too many family practice guys doing the work of internal med and too many nurse practitioners doing the work of family practice docs.
Know what's worse? The rural guys are in an even worse bind. Horrible nursing and ancillary staff issues. No surgeons at some of the smaller hospitals...Hospitals that previously had at least one or two for their entire existence. Where I'm working today, there is not a single ortho or gyn in this parish and the parish has a population of 40,000 people.
It's not much better in the larger urban areas. SIL works at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge. The Lake is an 800 bed hospital with 7500 employees in the region. They are currently trying to beg, borrow and steal staff. I know they're short of docs, as they recently lost a bidding war for one of our region's thoracic guys (he went to another hospital, for a rumored $2M).
I don't know if the whole world went locum tenens, if people left the healthcare professions after COVID or if the government has tightened the screws so much on reimbursement that docs are better off financially managing a Walmart, but things are bad. Worse than I've seen them in 43 years in the biz.
To quote Sergeant Major Plumley at Ia Drang, It's gettin' sporty out here.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Riffing off of 89th's stone thread...
One of my friends fell while working on a ladder a couple of days ago. The medflighted him to a Level 2 Trauma Center in town. Diagnosed with a compound fracture of the femur, he stayed in a ED hallway on a gurney for hours, then an ED room for hours (over 17 hours, total).
The ED doc then walked in and told him they were transferring him to Lafayette, so they medflighted him a second time. The guys down at Lafayette were waiting on him and he went from the pad to surgery. Surgery was successful, but he'll never go through another metal detector again without a loud beep.
I'm still waiting for further explanation, but the reason his wife was given for the surgery not being done locally, was a lack of a trauma surgeon and an available ortho. Folks...This hospital is a Level 2 Trauma Center. They are a 300 bed hospital (used to be 400). This is not Podunk Central. And they are a HCA hospital. The metropolitan population is about 170,000.
And you ain't got a trauma surgeon? I do know the area is in bad shape for thoracic guys...It's down to two. Until last month, no endocrinologist for months. Gastric guys? Three, where there used to be a half-dozen. There is only one major ophthalmology group left. GU guys? Half of what it was five years ago. Too many family practice guys doing the work of internal med and too many nurse practitioners doing the work of family practice docs.
Know what's worse? The rural guys are in an even worse bind. Horrible nursing and ancillary staff issues. No surgeons at some of the smaller hospitals...Hospitals that previously had at least one or two for their entire existence. Where I'm working today, there is not a single ortho or gyn in this parish and the parish has a population of 40,000 people.
It's not much better in the larger urban areas. SIL works at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge. The Lake is an 800 bed hospital with 7500 employees in the region. They are currently trying to beg, borrow and steal staff. I know they're short of docs, as they recently lost a bidding war for one of our region's thoracic guys (he went to another hospital, for a rumored $2M).
I don't know if the whole world went locum tenens, if people left the healthcare professions after COVID or if the government has tightened the screws so much on reimbursement that docs are better off financially managing a Walmart, but things are bad. Worse than I've seen them in 43 years in the biz.
To quote Sergeant Major Plumley at Ia Drang, It's gettin' sporty out here.
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I wonder how the total number of med school seats has changed over the years.
The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.
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@jon-nyc said in It's gettin' sporty out here...:
I wonder how the total number of med school seats has changed over the years.
That's a good question. Also, have the number of available residencies changed?
And...Can we do something about med school debt?
Lastly, do we need to look at how doctors are now educated and trained?
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https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/us-medical-school-enrollment-rises-30
U.S. medical school enrollment has increased by 31% since 2002, according to Results of the 2018 Medical School Enrollment Survey, a new AAMC report. Combined with first-year matriculation at osteopathic schools, medical student enrollment is now 52% higher than in 2002-03.
In response to concerns that a projected doctor shortage could impact patient care, the AAMC in 2006 called on medical schools to increase first-year enrollment by 30%. That target was reached in 2018-19, when first-year matriculation reached 21,622 students. Osteopathic schools increased their enrollment by 164% during this same time period, with 8,124 first-year students enrolled.
But schools ≠ docs
“From a supply side perspective, what we really need to focus on now is the residency slots,” says Atul Grover, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the AAMC. “We’ve done everything we can on the medical school front to reduce the physician shortage, and I think the numbers bear that out. The federal government needs to resume covering its fair share of the costs. That starts by lifting the caps.”
Residency training positions have expanded at a rate of just 1% a year, due in large part to a congressional cap on federal funding in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Most of the costs of residency training — about $171,855 per year, per resident on average, according to AAMC data — are supported by teaching hospitals and their faculty. Medicare (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has historically paid for 21% of the training. However, that support has been largely frozen since 1997. A house bill introduced in March – the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) – would add up to 15,000 Medicare-funded residency positions over five years, similar to an AHA-supported bill introduced in April in the Senate."Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/us-medical-school-enrollment-rises-30
U.S. medical school enrollment has increased by 31% since 2002, according to Results of the 2018 Medical School Enrollment Survey, a new AAMC report. Combined with first-year matriculation at osteopathic schools, medical student enrollment is now 52% higher than in 2002-03.
In response to concerns that a projected doctor shortage could impact patient care, the AAMC in 2006 called on medical schools to increase first-year enrollment by 30%. That target was reached in 2018-19, when first-year matriculation reached 21,622 students. Osteopathic schools increased their enrollment by 164% during this same time period, with 8,124 first-year students enrolled.
But schools ≠ docs
“From a supply side perspective, what we really need to focus on now is the residency slots,” says Atul Grover, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the AAMC. “We’ve done everything we can on the medical school front to reduce the physician shortage, and I think the numbers bear that out. The federal government needs to resume covering its fair share of the costs. That starts by lifting the caps.”
Residency training positions have expanded at a rate of just 1% a year, due in large part to a congressional cap on federal funding in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Most of the costs of residency training — about $171,855 per year, per resident on average, according to AAMC data — are supported by teaching hospitals and their faculty. Medicare (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has historically paid for 21% of the training. However, that support has been largely frozen since 1997. A house bill introduced in March – the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) – would add up to 15,000 Medicare-funded residency positions over five years, similar to an AHA-supported bill introduced in April in the Senate.@George-K said in It's gettin' sporty out here...:
A house bill introduced in March – the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) – would add up to 15,000 Medicare-funded residency positions over five years, similar to an AHA-supported bill introduced in April in the Senate.
Since the shortage is most acute in rural areas, you’d think a GOP house could support this. Maybe we’ll see it come to pass.
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https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/us-medical-school-enrollment-rises-30
U.S. medical school enrollment has increased by 31% since 2002, according to Results of the 2018 Medical School Enrollment Survey, a new AAMC report. Combined with first-year matriculation at osteopathic schools, medical student enrollment is now 52% higher than in 2002-03.
In response to concerns that a projected doctor shortage could impact patient care, the AAMC in 2006 called on medical schools to increase first-year enrollment by 30%. That target was reached in 2018-19, when first-year matriculation reached 21,622 students. Osteopathic schools increased their enrollment by 164% during this same time period, with 8,124 first-year students enrolled.
But schools ≠ docs
“From a supply side perspective, what we really need to focus on now is the residency slots,” says Atul Grover, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the AAMC. “We’ve done everything we can on the medical school front to reduce the physician shortage, and I think the numbers bear that out. The federal government needs to resume covering its fair share of the costs. That starts by lifting the caps.”
Residency training positions have expanded at a rate of just 1% a year, due in large part to a congressional cap on federal funding in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Most of the costs of residency training — about $171,855 per year, per resident on average, according to AAMC data — are supported by teaching hospitals and their faculty. Medicare (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has historically paid for 21% of the training. However, that support has been largely frozen since 1997. A house bill introduced in March – the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) – would add up to 15,000 Medicare-funded residency positions over five years, similar to an AHA-supported bill introduced in April in the Senate.@George-K said in It's gettin' sporty out here...:
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/us-medical-school-enrollment-rises-30
U.S. medical school enrollment has increased by 31% since 2002, according to Results of the 2018 Medical School Enrollment Survey, a new AAMC report. Combined with first-year matriculation at osteopathic schools, medical student enrollment is now 52% higher than in 2002-03.
In response to concerns that a projected doctor shortage could impact patient care, the AAMC in 2006 called on medical schools to increase first-year enrollment by 30%. That target was reached in 2018-19, when first-year matriculation reached 21,622 students. Osteopathic schools increased their enrollment by 164% during this same time period, with 8,124 first-year students enrolled.
But schools ≠ docs
“From a supply side perspective, what we really need to focus on now is the residency slots,” says Atul Grover, MD, PhD, executive vice president of the AAMC. “We’ve done everything we can on the medical school front to reduce the physician shortage, and I think the numbers bear that out. The federal government needs to resume covering its fair share of the costs. That starts by lifting the caps.”
Residency training positions have expanded at a rate of just 1% a year, due in large part to a congressional cap on federal funding in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Most of the costs of residency training — about $171,855 per year, per resident on average, according to AAMC data — are supported by teaching hospitals and their faculty. Medicare (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has historically paid for 21% of the training. However, that support has been largely frozen since 1997. A house bill introduced in March – the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (H.R. 1763) – would add up to 15,000 Medicare-funded residency positions over five years, similar to an AHA-supported bill introduced in April in the Senate.How do you feel about a back to the future approach to residencies? Where residents are assigned to a working practitioner with a weekly touchstone session with the medschool doc who is running herd on that particular batch? At the end of each year, swap practitioners.
