Suzanimal
08-20-2018, 06:40 AM
The doctor is out? Why physicians are leaving their practices to pursue other careers
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But perhaps the more interesting story lies not with those deciding to eschew medical degrees; it’s with the people who went through all that training, who became doctors — and then decided to opt for another path.
This drastic career change can be a result of new med school grads being unable to find a residency within a reasonable period of time.
“Graduating med school doesn't mean you’ll get into a residency,” said Fowler. “There aren't enough residency slots for medical grads. So you have that population of people who have an MD but didn't practice for that reason. There is this bottleneck effect.”
THE MOUNTING BUREAUCRACY
This “bottleneck effect” doesn’t usually sour grads on staying the course, Fowler finds, but he does see plenty of doctors in the later stages of their careers hang up their stethoscopes earlier than expected. Some cite electronic health records (EHRs) as part of the reason — especially old school doctors who don’t pride themselves on their computer skills. New research by Stanford Medicine, conducted by The Harris Poll, found that 59 percent think EHRs "need a complete overhaul;" while 40 percent see "more challenges with EHRs than benefits."
And then there are those doctors who left medicine because the cons of the job started to far outweigh the pros.
“After 20 years, I quit medicine and none of my colleagues were surprised. In fact, they all said they wish they could do the same,” Dr. Amy Baxter told NBC News.
“I began to feel like an easily replaceable cog in the healthcare machine. With the [enforcement] of EHRs, I had to spend more time as a scribe. One night a child I was treating had a seizure and I couldn’t get the medicine to enable them to breathe because their chart wasn’t in the system yet. This kid was fixing to die and I, the doctor, couldn’t get the medicine. It was demoralizing.”
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https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/doctor-out-why-physicians-are-leaving-their-practices-pursue-other-n900921?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
...
But perhaps the more interesting story lies not with those deciding to eschew medical degrees; it’s with the people who went through all that training, who became doctors — and then decided to opt for another path.
This drastic career change can be a result of new med school grads being unable to find a residency within a reasonable period of time.
“Graduating med school doesn't mean you’ll get into a residency,” said Fowler. “There aren't enough residency slots for medical grads. So you have that population of people who have an MD but didn't practice for that reason. There is this bottleneck effect.”
THE MOUNTING BUREAUCRACY
This “bottleneck effect” doesn’t usually sour grads on staying the course, Fowler finds, but he does see plenty of doctors in the later stages of their careers hang up their stethoscopes earlier than expected. Some cite electronic health records (EHRs) as part of the reason — especially old school doctors who don’t pride themselves on their computer skills. New research by Stanford Medicine, conducted by The Harris Poll, found that 59 percent think EHRs "need a complete overhaul;" while 40 percent see "more challenges with EHRs than benefits."
And then there are those doctors who left medicine because the cons of the job started to far outweigh the pros.
“After 20 years, I quit medicine and none of my colleagues were surprised. In fact, they all said they wish they could do the same,” Dr. Amy Baxter told NBC News.
“I began to feel like an easily replaceable cog in the healthcare machine. With the [enforcement] of EHRs, I had to spend more time as a scribe. One night a child I was treating had a seizure and I couldn’t get the medicine to enable them to breathe because their chart wasn’t in the system yet. This kid was fixing to die and I, the doctor, couldn’t get the medicine. It was demoralizing.”
...
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/doctor-out-why-physicians-are-leaving-their-practices-pursue-other-n900921?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma