What might a good solution be to the General Practitioner Shortage in the US?

[LuvOrlando]

In the US General Practitioners are the gateway to mental health care, many specialists and all sorts of other kinds of medical care. We have Urgent Care all over the place but since Urgent Care does not do followup of any kind they are't there to offer ongoing care for things like Depression etc or ongoing issues while a person waits to get into a specialist which can take months.

One of my adult children has been trying to get into a Primary Care - General Practitioner in Boston for over 2 years, yep, two years. I just spoke with someone in office staff who tole me there is a hold because so many retired during Covid and no new students want to go into the area. I just found an article saying the biggest system in the area was full back in 2023, https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...-accepting-new-primary-care-patients/3191270/ seems like nothing has changed which is scary still not taking patients. This is a big city with countless new residents, students and just just a massive a flux of humans so how can it be no-one is available to see people, not to mention some serious social issues with a substance abuse and homelessness in play

How can the US or struggling cities or states coax students into Primary Care? My best guess is to grant them student loan forgiveness if they commit for 5-10 years. Maybe another option is the laws change requiring Urgent Care to do follow-up? Maybe some states have made progress or brainstormed something because yikes, this needs to be remedied, the situation is terrible.

 

[clh2]

Well, from what I understand, their is nothing appealing about a GP’s salary, so, that would probably need to be fixed first!

 

[LilyWDW]

Well, the thing not to do is restrict Student Loans and Aid which we are seeing happen. This will only make it harder for those who are not already rich to go the medical school in general. And I doubt those who can pay for Medical school out of pocket will want to do something like General Practice/Primary Care because there is no money in it.

Also, the answer is not to force this on to Urgent Cares. That is not what they are there for and would end up flooding them with more patients, which would cause longer waits, and force more people to use the ER for non emergency needs.

As someone who thought they wanted to go to Medical School, I can tell you some limitations.

The cost of becoming a doctor is astronomical.

The amount of time it takes is crazy. Not saying they should have less schooling, but pointing out that it is a lot of years where you are making pretty much nothing (or paying for the privilege) yet still have to survive is a lot.

General Practice/Primary Care doesn't make much money which makes it impossible to pay off your loans. Add in the increases in cost of living and why would anyone choose it.

 

[Simba's Mom]

You have a good point mentioning Student Loan Forgiveness. The government has a program (or had-it's hard to keep up with changes) that listed "underserved" educational communities. If you taught in one of the districts, your student loans were forgiven at the rate of (I think) 10% for every year you taught in that district. Our city was one of those "underserved" districts, and we attracted some excellent teachers.

 

[Minnie1222]

Long commitments, long hours, low pays, lawsuits, Karens, and many other factors.

Hard pass!

 

[mjkacmom]

Well now that there are supposed to be limits on federal student loans of $200,000 total, and medical school and undergrad cost about $600,000, unless you come from generational wealth, find another profession.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Well now that there are supposed to be limits on federal student loans of $200,000 total, and medical school and undergrad cost about $600,000, unless you come from generational wealth, find another profession.

Punish the good, reward the evil… that’s unfortunately how our government is running at the moment. This needs to change.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Well now that there are supposed to be limits on federal student loans of $200,000 total, and medical school and undergrad cost about $600,000, unless you come from generational wealth, find another profession.

Wow! Our local university has a Medical school. One year of tuition is $13,800. Times that by 4 years (plus the undergrad year which is $7000).

 

[lanejudy]

Wow! Our local university has a Medical school. One year of tuition is $13,800. Times that by 4 years (plus the undergrad year which is $7000).

Any parent of college students can tell you it’s not just the tuition. Living expenses adds up more than the tuition. I can’t say how US compares to Canada on such costs but I highly doubt a student is getting completely through undergrad plus med school for that low.

 

[DCL58]

Wow! Our local university has a Medical school. One year of tuition is $13,800. Times that by 4 years (plus the undergrad year which is $7000).

My kids had free tuition to college - to a SEC school. That did not mean that they incurred no costs to get their degrees. They still had apartments, books, fees, and other living expenses - as they went to school in another city. Their apartments alone cost over $20,000 per year.

 

[PollyannaMom]

How can the US or struggling cities or states coax students into Primary Care?

Grants to offset some of the costs of schooling, better hours, higher pay (though I don't know how they could do that because the cost of care to patients is already so high) and for people to stop suing them all the time.

Basically, being a GP used to mean a pretty good life. - You had a higher than average salary, reasonable hours (barring the occasional real emergency) and were a respected member of your community.

But now too much of what they make goes to exorbitant student loan payments and malpractice insurance premiums, they have to work hours convenient to patients instead of patients being able to take off work to see them, and their recommendations aren't respected by insurance companies.

I wouldn't go into the field either.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My kids had free tuition to college - to a SEC school. That did not mean that they incurred no costs to get their degrees. They still had apartments, books, fees, and other living expenses - as they went to school in another city. Their apartments alone cost over $20,000 per year.

I have no idea what a SEC school is. That means nothing to me.

 

[gsdweller]

Wow! Our local university has a Medical school. One year of tuition is $13,800. Times that by 4 years (plus the undergrad year which is $7000).

That is why Canadian med school graduates cannot practice in the US without completing additional training inside the US.

 

[RedHead0186]

That is why Canadian med school graduates cannot practice in the US without completing additional training inside the US.

What? Lots of Canadian-trained physicians can practice medicine in the US without completing additional training.

And if they do have to do additional training, it has nothing to do with the cost of medical school.

 

[Turn the Page]

Wow! Our local university has a Medical school. One year of tuition is $13,800. Times that by 4 years (plus the undergrad year which is $7000).

The closest med school to me is $70,1000 a year for tuition and fees plus another estimated $30,000 per year in living expenses. It is a large state school. We're not talking Harvard.

 

[Turn the Page]

It is a sports thing. It stands for Southeastern Conference or something along those lines. Think big, well known universities like University of Alabama, University of Georgia, etc.

 

[BrianL]

It is a sports thing. It stands for Southeastern Conference or something along those lines. Think big, well known universities like University of Alabama, University of Georgia, etc.

Some of them are actually decent schools though, like Vanderbilt. That may be why they're never that good at football though.

 

[OneOftheB's]

You have a good point mentioning Student Loan Forgiveness. The government has a program (or had-it's hard to keep up with changes) that listed "underserved" educational communities. If you taught in one of the districts, your student loans were forgiven at the rate of (I think) 10% for every year you taught in that district. Our city was one of those "underserved" districts, and we attracted some excellent teachers.

I'm not certain about MDs but I know for a fact Georgia has a similar program for dentists graduating from the state dental school in Augusta. Newly graduated dentists have been offered full tuition forgiveness if they move to a specified area and practice there for (I think) 8 years. My husband is a dentist and has gotten several student accepted to dental school in Augusta. A few of those students have been offered an amazing deal where a practice is set up for them, they are paid a very good salary (6 figures) and the state pays their outstanding college loans. My husband told each of those new dentists that they should accept that offer, work out the term, even if they work 3 or 4 days in the under served area and 1-2 days in the area of preference to establish themselves for when their contract is over. No one that he knows has taken the offer.

 

[Turn the Page]

Some of them are actually decent schools though, like Vanderbilt. That may be why they're never that good at football though.

Well sure, I just meant SEC is a sports designation.

 

[Southernmiss]

Every type of doctor we have needed in more than 5 years is in short supply.

And everything already said in this thread is spot on.

One of our kids is in medical school. But has joined the US Navy so that the Navy will pay for school. Don't count on them treating civilians until after school, residency, and their obligation to the US military.

Their med school alone would be $60,000 per year.

There are states with programs for doctors to treat in rural areas and get some school paid for.

But medical schools have limited number of seats for medical students and have a cap on the number of incoming students they can accept. That's part of the reason medical school is hard to get into. There are just not enough openings for everyone.