tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968787219619380438.post1923139656048568992..comments2023-09-21T04:02:29.457-04:00Comments on Skeptical Scalpel: Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Persists: Causes and SolutionsSkeptical Scalpelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13206922456661320751noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968787219619380438.post-55944364835146077652011-02-21T15:23:45.216-05:002011-02-21T15:23:45.216-05:00Sorry for the delay in responding. Great comments....Sorry for the delay in responding. Great comments. You make an excellent point about the difficulty in gaining experience if one only works a few hours a week.Skeptical Scalpelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13206922456661320751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968787219619380438.post-37189834867530906882011-02-16T19:41:23.315-05:002011-02-16T19:41:23.315-05:00Love it! I've just returned to the US from a l...Love it! I've just returned to the US from a long stint in Australia. The GP shortage is acute there, and that is a place where general practice has always been the norm. I had to explain to people that in the US, in a big city one simply did not see any family practitioners. <br />In Aus, for various reasons I'd be happy to elaborate on, the number of medical students is disproportionately female. While medical school is not free in Australia, the cost is manageable (usually about $50-60,000 in total for a 6 year course). Many women see GP practice as a pleasant, well paid part-time job. It is quite common for a woman to enter GP practice, become pregnant, take six months off (probably not paid, depending on the state) and then return to practice for two half days a week. While most of them up their hours once children are school age, they still do not usually practice full time. The GP practice I attended there had 16 doctors in partnership; on any given day no more than 3 were in the office. <br />As a patient, I also wondered about the level of experience these doctors had. How can you build it up when you aren't there? My son was diagnosed with scarlet fever by a doctor who was about 30 and had never seen it before. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face as she told me it was scarlet fever, and had to pull a book off the shelf to answer my questions (eg, was the rash itchy). And, in case you haven't figured it out by deducing that it's normally the mother who takes a pre-schooler to the doctor, I am a woman!plumtreenoreply@blogger.com