An op-ed published in two major newspapers this week says the new health care reform law overlooks the serious challenge posed by the present shortage of practicing physicians in the U.S. Louis J. Goodman, PhD, president of the Physicians Foundation, and its executive director Timothy B. Norbeck say the physician shortage being experienced by many states, including North Carolina, raises the question of whether there will be enough doctors to take care of everyone in the years ahead. Goodman and Norbeck say that there will be a great impact on patient care if Washington does not quickly address how to increase the physician workforce and medical residencies that will be required to meet a growing population and the influx of 30 million patients who gain coverage under the new law.
Read the op-ed, which appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Newsday. NCMS Executive Vice President, CEO Robert W. Seligson serves as treasurer of the Physicians Foundation, which was created in 2003 to help physicians to deliver high quality care to their patients.
at 4:01 pm
Government positions are attractive for the under-educated and un-educated. They are a safe harbor for incompetence, for those who want to be esconced in a position despite their poor performance. Few professionals who are motivated to be the best seek government positions.
And somehow, this article says that government, who has created this problem in the first place, needs to create more physicians.
My son is fascinated by my surgical practice and shows great interest and aptitude. I will feel he is being cheated in life if he goes into medicine, or at least, most medical fields.
Sad. Sad for all of us who render and receive medical care.