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‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

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Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#11

Post by honkycat »

thrower123 wrote: post #10
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically if the podunk town is willing to pay 5x, 10x, 100x, etc. A doctor would definitely take up that. Hell, I would do software development in a podunk town for a million dollar salary. Maybe even a 750k salary.

I'd happily do my software job remotely in a podunk town for just my current salary. The dollars would go almost twice as far.

My friend, live in a podunk town for a while before you take that bargin xD

Though, to be fair, there are a ton of awesome NON-podunk little towns that are a delight to live in.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#12

Post by castratikron »

The picture at the end of the article says it all, "No services next 74 miles".

If you choose to live in rural US, you are signing up for this kind of lifestyle; you're on your own. As long as that's advertised I don't see a real problem. If you need health care then you should live near health care. Don't expect the same level of support in rural MN as you would get in NYC.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#13

Post by jermaustin1 »

hestipod wrote: post #4
belltaco wrote: post #3

The decades long wait times for green cards for immigrant doctors is also hurting health care in rural America. https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/08/news/economy/immigrant-doct... https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/communitie... https://time.com/5299488/international-medical-graduates/

Friend married a Russian cardiac surgeon, one with 20 years of experience, brilliant woman. She was not allowed to practice in the US without years of redoing residency and entry level exams and loads of money. She ended up changing careers as it was so much bother. Patients ended up losing out on a caring and bright provider.

A DBA I worked with a couple jobs ago was a surgeon in China. He immigrated in the mid 1980s. After he was told he would have to redo his med school, he also decided it wasn't worth it and instead "learned computers".

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#14

Post by C4stor »

honkycat wrote: post #5
hestipod wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Friend married a Russian cardiac surgeon, one with 20 years of experience, brilliant woman. She was not allowed to practice in the US without years of redoing residency and entry level exams and loads of money. She ended up changing careers as it was so much bother. Patients ended up losing out on a caring and bright provider.

That is a feature, not a bug. Why would a well-paid, highly regulated profession allow people to come into their turf and undercut them? Not saying this is a GOOD thing. Merely pointing out that the system is working as intended.

If the final user is losing, it's a bug.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#15

Post by CabSauce »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #8
honkycat wrote: post #6

This is happening on my home town. The hospital has been scaling back more and more. What was once a thriving hospital now only has 3 doctors. Not due to demand, but because there are not enough doctors. Doctors do not want to live in a podunk town, no matter how much the hospitals are willing to pay.

Theoretically if the podunk town is willing to pay 5x, 10x, 100x, etc. A doctor would definitely take up that. Hell, I would do software development in a podunk town for a million dollar salary. Maybe even a 750k salary.

They do literally pay almost 2x. And that's in towns where your dollar goes much, much further. It's effectively 5x. Doctors still don't want to go.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#16

Post by oneepic »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #8
honkycat wrote: post #6

This is happening on my home town. The hospital has been scaling back more and more. What was once a thriving hospital now only has 3 doctors. Not due to demand, but because there are not enough doctors. Doctors do not want to live in a podunk town, no matter how much the hospitals are willing to pay.

Theoretically if the podunk town is willing to pay 5x, 10x, 100x, etc. A doctor would definitely take up that. Hell, I would do software development in a podunk town for a million dollar salary. Maybe even a 750k salary.

If they're willing to pay. Doctors are very sensitive to the pay issue these days. I'd imagine there are a ton of poor folks out there that would happily get treatment, but won't pay when they get that bill in the mail.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#17

Post by EliRivers »

castratikron wrote: post #12

The picture at the end of the article says it all, "No services next 74 miles". If you choose to live in rural US, you are signing up for this kind of lifestyle; you're on your own. As long as that's advertised I don't see a real problem. If you need health care then you should live near health care. Don't expect the same level of support in rural MN as you would get in NYC.

I understand a lot of poor people in these regions lack the resources to move to more populated areas. Would you support a federal or state rehousing program to enable that?

It's a genuine question; should the US taxpayer pony up so poor people trapped in rural areas can move to population centres and enjoy the benefits thereof?

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#18

Post by magashna »

C4stor wrote: post #14
honkycat wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a feature, not a bug. Why would a well-paid, highly regulated profession allow people to come into their turf and undercut them? Not saying this is a GOOD thing. Merely pointing out that the system is working as intended.

If the final user is losing, it's a bug.

At least in the IT world, there are lots of contractors sold on their certifications who end up being complete frauds. I'd like there to be some sort of way to prove your merit especially when you have people's lives in your hands.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#19

Post by thrower123 »

honkycat wrote: post #11
thrower123 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd happily do my software job remotely in a podunk town for just my current salary. The dollars would go almost twice as far.

My friend, live in a podunk town for a while before you take that bargin xD Though, to be fair, there are a ton of awesome NON-podunk little towns that are a delight to live in.

I grew up in one, it'd be going home to the way life should be.

Re: ‘Out here, it’s just me’: one doctor for 11,000 square miles

#20

Post by roflchoppa2 »

EliRivers wrote: post #17
castratikron wrote: post #12

The picture at the end of the article says it all, "No services next 74 miles". If you choose to live in rural US, you are signing up for this kind of lifestyle; you're on your own. As long as that's advertised I don't see a real problem. If you need health care then you should live near health care. Don't expect the same level of support in rural MN as you would get in NYC.

I understand a lot of poor people in these regions lack the resources to move to more populated areas. Would you support a federal or state rehousing program to enable that? It's a genuine question; should the US taxpayer pony up so poor people trapped in rural areas can move to population centres and enjoy the benefits thereof?

States could offer something like that if they need more people to work in certain sectors. It would be cool to see it tie into education system too.
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