Did anyone notice this, or is it just me?

Question

What i noticed was that in U.S. and especially Canada there is a huge shortage of doctors. Even though the government realizes this they do soo little.
For example just to let you guys know since i live in ontario Canada over here there are a total of 400-420 total spaces for medical schools and just for those there are nearly 10,000 people applying for it!
University of Toronto has 228 spots and nearly 5,000 people apply their alone! and recently they just increased the spaces by adding around 20+ seats. :-P
If it is such a big concern then why the hell cant government just make more spaces @ med. school and make it easier for themselves and the people of their country!
Please share your thoughts on this.

over here in Ontario there is a shortage of family physicians and it is really i,portant to have a have one, since the government here checks for your status of your health and everytihing and since there are family physicians but with no openings, then we have to live on walk-in clinics! and even doctors here are forcasting a very big shortage that will force the government to possibly hire foreign qualified (from Asia) to practise here!

TO Mephistopheles:
Forget about being scared! the competition is soooo stiff here in ontario that University of Toronto reserves like only 5 seats for residency and re qualification! and do you know how many people there are applying for that small number? lets just say that there are nearly a thousand qualified immigrants who are anywhere from doctors to surgeons in diverse fields.

TO Mephistopheles:
Forget about being scared! the competition is soooo stiff here in ontario that University of Toronto reserves like only 5 seats for residency and re qualification! and do you know how many people there are applying for that small number? lets just say that there are nearly a thousand qualified immigrants who are anywhere from doctors to surgeons in diverse fields.

Also there is kind of a suction reaction goin on here in this world. That being Canada attracts geniuses and smart students from Asia and when they become doctors they actually MOST of them move to the United States since they have ALOT better pay than the wages set by government of Canada.

Answer 1

people are greedy, i mean doctors charge outragesly for a visit..darn..

Answer 2

The reason given by Medical Schools for not increasing the number of student is the amount of training and supervision they would get both during their undergraduate years and also when residents and interns.

The theory is that the senior Doctors can/ will only look after a certain number of juniors. This way they can keep a tight control of the numbers of doctors entering the profession.

I remember listening to a General Surgery Professor in the UK about 15 years ago now, telling some male medical students that it was their DUTY to wait untill after qualifying as Doctors to get married. That they should make sure that they only marry female doctors and that they should get their wives pregnant as quickly as possible, because this was the only way to ensure that promotion jobs would be open to them in the future.

He was taken seriously.

Answer 3

There is severe shortage of doctors and you are right, that resulted in some of them provide very bad service and some never bother to read a book since they graduated. The trick is to keep the residency positions closed in the face of international-graduates who are qualified doctors but not licensed in Canada till they get their license. It is a profession that is closing the door in the face of qualified immigrants and I believe it is done intentionally. If the Ontario College of Pharmacists and Ontario pharmacists do the same, they would create a terrible shortage of pharmacists worse than those of doctors. Pharmacists in Ontario are playing a bigger role in health care since they have to keep up their education or lose the license. Unfortunately those standards are not forced on our soiled physicians and some basically depend way to much on nurses and pharmacists to "clean their messes." Some are good of course but the profession is rather loosely regulated and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is doing a poor job. Some family physicians advertise they do not accept new patients older than 55 (too much work?) It is a sad situation created by the profession itself. I hope the [profession gets its day of reckoning very soon.

Answer 4

Very true. The Government also make it really difficult for people who have been trained as MDs to practice. In Vancouver we've had top brain and heart surgeons who have had to jump through hoops to get re qualified to practice in Canada, while people are dying because they are denied these people's expertise. it is totally crazy and is, I think, part of an attempt to keep a closed shop for local doctors. If you are any good, regardless of your profession, you should not be afraid of competition. If you are don't deny the public the good service they could get by erecting artificial barriers - get another profession.

Answer 5

In the US the shortage is due to people leaving the practice -- between types of insurance being accepted, to Malpractice Insurance issues, doctors are disallusioned, and bow out. In Ohio, many OB/GYN docts have left (Malpractice Insurance is over $100,000 a year).

No easy answers -- Canada of course, has different structure, so it would be interesting to compare and contrast the reason there is a shortage there...

Answer 6

I'm sure that there are some people that want to be doctors that really shouldn't be, either because they're not smart enough or dedicated enough. It's a good idea to limit enrollment so that only the most qualified get through.
Same goes for teachers.

Answer 7

I don't know about that but I do know that the doctors I see are not using the best technology and the ones that would give me the best service are the ones I am sure I could not afford.

I have hypothyroidism and I personally would like to see a doctor that could jumpstart my hormone system and get it to start releasing the proper amount of thyroid, estrogen and progesterone hormones on its own so that I don't have to be dependant on these oral symthetic hormone pills.

Answer 8

there seems to be an abundance of bad doctors to me...

or at least doctors that dont always notice things, and it takes them too long to diagnosis the problem, so they treat the symptoms in the meantime.

i feel like ive been sick non-stop for 3 years. if its not one thing, its another. which makes me think theres one basic thing wrong, and different times and changes are effecting it in different ways, causing these annoying symptoms

im going to a new doctor in two weeks, he's supposed to be good...

sorry for the rant, needed to vent. im tired of being sick

Answer 9

I don't see a shortage and can see any doctor I wish (based on his specialty and my needs). I am a cash patient and think the fees are reasonable.

Answer 10

can you write a little more! I think its to cold up there for doctors they like warm weather and also its all about money!!