free schooling for doctors/surgeons & nurses/practitioners

[francolettieri]

They are talking about a shortage of primary care physicians and how a lot of Doctors may not be accepting new patients on Medicare/ Medicaid because they don't make as much $$ off them. One possible solution I thought of....

Since pilots can get all their training for free in the military if they have top notch grades and pass a battery of assessments....Maybe medical professionals should be able to get free training too, in the military or civilian...from the government. In exchange for free training, they agree to accept medicare/ medicaid patients for a fixed amount of time.....10/20 years....

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Many people do get med school paid for by the military

I think you owe the military some number of years of service, maybe five. I've known at least three people who took this route after college (that is, they didn't join the military until after they'd finished undergrad).

[LeftInTX]

9. Yep. I know someone who became an optometrist this way.

You can pretty much attend the university of your own choosing.

[cbayer]

14. You can also do it through the public health service and pay back by working in

high need environments, often native american communities.

[PDJane]

2. Of course.

On the other hand, making medicare universal would help.

[Mojorabbit]

3. or pay family docs

Better for seeing Medicare/ Medicaid patients

[ParkieDem]

4. We also need to reform the Medicare/Medicaid payment system

Right now, the "per-procedure" reimbursement is antiquated and, frankly, asinine -- it pays doctors for each procedure rather than overall care, which is a recipe for fraud and "patient mills" where people are just run through the office without receiving adequate care.

[freshwest]

5. Great idea. We have an influx of doctors, etc.from countries that do this.

[libtodeath]

6. I dont think it should stop there

we have more then enough money if we had a fair tax rate and a defense budget just big enough to meet actual threat needs to provide a free higher education to all.

It is another thing that would grow the economy and increase innovation.
Think how many people could invent things or add to what we have but cant afford an education so end up stuck in menial jobs.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

7. Actually they should do that in exchange for

turning Medicare/Medicaid into a Cleveland Clinic type system...

[Care Acutely]

8. I am in a doctor of nursing program (nurse practitioner)

I had the great fortune of being awarded a HRSA scholarship that paid for about half of my baccalaureate education and in return, I am now fulfilling my commitment to that scholarship by working in an underserved area. I plan to apply into the HRSA loan repayment program after I am finished with my doctorate program and go to work in the underserved and tribal regions of Northwest Montana.

Some of the programs we need are already in place, and we should definitely expand on them.

[BeeBee]

10. A good friend of mine is a dentist.

He's doing OK financially, but he has over $200,000.00 in student loans hanging over his head. He's doing everything that he can to pay them down, including working in a local Indian Health Center (because they help pay off his loans for a commitment of working there for a certain amount of time).

[riderinthestorm]

11. The US Dept of of HHS does have a National Health Svc Corp which DOES have this program

In return for the free $$ you have to agree to serve in rural/underserved areas.

The program needs dramatic expansion but it is out there.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/

One of the biggest problems however is that med schools limit enrollment to keep salaries high. Keeping qualified people from attending med school is our biggest obstacle. There are too few spots....

[Capt. Obvious]

12. That's a great idea

I know that the town of Cicely, Alaska was able to get a doctor because they paid for his tuition. (And that doctor was from New York City - so this can be reproduced anywhere)

[bluestate10]

13. The problem is the fee structure and exposure to lawsuits.

The doctors that see the most patients and run the greatest risk for lawsuits are Internists, aka, General Practitioners. GPs see patients first, provide their physical exams and refer them to specialists. I had a conversation with my GP about the ACA. He thought that the ACA was a good idea but pointed out that he made $35 per patient visit. A surgeon makes something like $100 plus per patient visit, Dermatologists also get much higher rates, as do other Specialists. The AMA fee setting body is controlled by Specialists. What has to happen is that medical students wanting to become GPs either have to get free educations, annual liability insurance support and medical facilities to work out of as long as GPs getting the financial head start agree to serve the public for 10-20 years at fixed rates that are re-negotiated every 5 years, with the understanding that GPs won't suffer financially as a result of the fee setting structure. GPs that work in undeserved communities for 20-30 years would get an additional boost by getting a sunset bonus that would be paid to them once their service term is completed. The structure would make GPs the most financially set of doctors, as things should be because those doctors are the spear in any working national health care system.