That's a point I haven't seen addressed before, Dr Fischer. Thanks for bringing it up. Too many of us have just assumed "general practitioner" when we read "doctor" in relation to the MCG expansion.
The five articles in the Jan. 20 Augusta Chronicle, and 48 pages of the Medical College of Georgia manpower report, miss the point.
It would be an unfortunate misuse of state tax funds to train 2,500 new doctors if they are not the type of physicians the state needs! It is irresponsible for politicians and medical educators to ask the public to fund the growth of medical schools unless these plans include explicit targets for medical specialties.
Producing 2,500 new doctors who plan careers injecting Botox will not help the health of our state. Georgia ranks 44th in the country for primary care physicians, a ranking that could only get worse under the current proposals.
Our paid consultants, politicians and medical educators are behaving like Detroit: With gas near $3 per gallon, let's make more Hummers -- not because people will buy them, but because we know how.
Paul Fischer, M.D., Evans
Comments
That's a point I haven't seen addressed before, Dr Fischer. Thanks for bringing it up. Too many of us have just assumed "general practitioner" when we read "doctor" in relation to the MCG expansion.
Clap-Clap-Clap-Clap-Clap
As usual, Paul is on point. We need more folks like him making the decisions about the future of medicine in Georgia, not the bureaucrats or politicians. We need people who are in the business of treating patients to speak up and get involved.
Very well stated.
The good news is that this man is my primary care physician. He is a very caring, competent doctor.
Obvoulsy we need more primary care physicians. But what about a community that has no orthopedic surgeon? Or doesn't have a cardiologist? The admissions process should attempt to identify young people who want to go into primary care. It should follow the Mercer model of preparing primary care physicians to serve in rural and underserved areas. But no one can force a medical student to go into a primary care residency.
Mercer has been successful but has still produced some radiologists, anesthesiologists, and even several ophthalmologists. How can a medical school control what type of residency a student choses? The best way is for the faculty to model and emphasize primary care. I think MCG should change its policy and begin to only admit students who are Georgia residents. Why educate someone from Ohio?
For sure we need more alternative care doctors. They are the wave of the future. Alternative care as done in areas like NAET appears to be 50 years ahead of everything else. We need surgeons and emergency room folks but alternative care seems to handle the rest quite well and tons cheaper. We as a country keep falling behind in life expectancy because of the pushing of so many drugs that do nothing but cause problems. Also eating out is an extremely dangerous health practice. Most drugs are all about money and not health care and a few good doctors realize that and fight to get you off every drug possible. People who want to be up on the latest and greatest definitely need to know about NAET and EFT. For a balanced view of the truth read Dr. David Williams newsletter.
There is some alternative medicine that is beneficial as studies support, but the vast majority are a health risk. I'd ask a physician before I would trust some nut.
that is why I trust Dr. David Williams; he is always ahead of the curve and has not been wrong in the 5-10 years I have read his letter. People are moving to alternative because of results and not advertising which speaks volumes. When I go by Earth Fair and see all these folks spending their money to be healthy I know something is changing in this country.
As faculty at MCG, I think I can say this is a dumb point. #1, the vast majority of MDs trained by MCG and most medical schools go to into basic practice. Worry over training a generation of cosmetic surgeons is about as productive as trying to figure out what's in Loch Ness. Entertaining but pointless. #2 Even if doctors want to go into cosmetic surgery, there is nothing to stop them. The vast majority of those services are outside insurance or GOV't reimbusement and thus unless you are some sort of econo-Nazi, you can't stop people from pursing money in any legal way they choose. The major problem facing Georgia that will not be met by random increases in numbers is keeping them in the state. MCG tries to bias that by heavily favoring GA residents for admission but once they graduate, nothing stops them from leaving the state or piling up in Atlanta. Incentives are needed to solve the real problem of attracting doctors to places like Wrens and Waynesboro, where the real shortage is.
I'm in the healthcare business and I don't understand why anyone chooses to become a physician, especially in primary care, absent pure altruism. Primary care providers have to see 30 or 40 patients a day, 6 or 7 days a week in order to be marginally profitable. Gov't control, insurance companies, and blanket regulation burden providers whose costs continue to soar and cannot be passed to the "customer." No other business is like it. Dr. Fischer is correct in what he says, but it will never happen until patients are made responsible for payment and insurance companies exist only to cover "catastrophic" care. What do you think the chances of that are?
Slim to none. But wouldn't it be good if more people were responsible for paying more for health care with insurance picking up the catastrophic. If you have to pay for your own "maintenance" you might just take better care of yourself, eat right, exercise, give up unhealthy habits, lose weight, etc.
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