Blog Plan / Residency Shortage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRiGZnNS9Oo

The goal of this blog is to create a “tsunami of outrage” over the betrayal and waste of fully qualified doctor graduates who cannot complete the last step of their medical training.  Due to the bureaucratic mismanagement by the Federal Government, this outrage should lead to ACTION to correct this travesty before the loss of thousands of fully educated doctors.

The actual “loss” of these doctors to the practice of Medicine has been caused by the pyramid effect of too few residency slots available compared to the increased number of graduating medical students.  This “pyramid” should have occurred prior to acceptance into medical school, and not after, as has been caused by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

 My plan has been to write a series of blogs to fully explain how the residency shortage began, what has resulted as a consequence of the shortage, the misconceptions about the unmatched doctors’ qualifications, the multi-state approaches to correcting the shortage, and the lack of National leadership in correcting this travesty.

I decided to post blogs 3 to 4 times per week to get the whole story out before readers lost interest.  That has been accomplished.  If you have missed any prior blogs, I would encourage you to go back to the beginning and read/listen to all of the blogs (I can read all of them in less than 1 hour, and the videos are 3-4 minutes each and would take an hour+).  My plan going forward is to post a blog one time per week on Tuesdays.  However, I would also post again on Thursdays if any important developments occur or if I received any personal stories to share.  I would encourage anyone with a personal story to share to write to me.  I will keep your identifying information private.  If you subscribe to the blog, you will receive email notification of any new posts.

 The success of a blog depends upon its readership.  So my next area of focus is going to be blog promotion.  I am still writing letters/emails, sending out press releases to the media, connecting on Twitter, and “Like/Share” on Facebook.  Please help me by sharing this blog with your colleagues and contacts.  I am very receptive to suggestions you may have for me which you can communicate by email (Leslapol727@gmail.com)

 Although I do not relish being called Saturday Night Live’s version of “Debbie Downer”, history will probably repeat itself this week on Friday March 17^th, Match Day 2017.  I wish I could say that all of the doctor applicants will match, but they will not.  Since there have been more than 8,000 unmatched doctors for each year over the last 5 years, I  imagine that this year will be the same….Add another 8,000+ unmatched doctors to this story!!!
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Second-Half Summary/ Residency Shortage

Second- half Summary/Residency Shortage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT2xcjL-eNo

Here is the second half of the “story”:

• What is the AMA doing?
• The Nation has broken the “Social Contract”
• 25% international medical graduates do not match, yet ECFMG has been monitoring and making recommendations to them for 60 years!
• We want to think US Medical Schools are “better”, yet individual learning and passing of the “Criterion Task” have leveled the field.  Only fully qualified applicants are eligible to participate in the NRMP in the first place!
• ACGME is not in favor of Missouri’s plan for Assistant Physician License, yet has not taken the lead in finding a solution
• AMA and ACGME, two of the most influential agencies in Medical Education, are not leading in timely fashion to prevent an utter waste of human talent
• The impending doctor shortage will be more than 90,000 doctors short in the next decade
• Some question the legitimacy of the “Doc Shortage”.  Either the demographics are correct, or they are not!  Baby Boomers are ageing and will require even more medical care.  Is this really politics trying to use lesser trained medical professionals to provide patient care at lower costs, using physician assistants and nurse practitioners?
• Are P.A.s and N.P.s as qualified as MDs?
• A number of states are approaching this problem but tend to favor their own residents
• Need a “tsunami” of outrage to solve this
• Need action by each person concerned about this solution

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Uncle Sam Wants You! / Residency Shortage

Uncle Sam Wants You! / Residency Shortage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x81Rl9TzL_8

The only way the residency shortage will resolve in a timely fashion depends on YOU!  I mean this literally.  There is a no “One” person who can effect this change before countless fully qualified doctors are “lost”.  It will take a groundswell of voices to bring this travesty to the forefront of our Nation.  We need YOUR VOICE.

The solution to the residency shortage will not be linear.  As you have read, some states are creating legislation to “preserve” their unmatched doctors until the number of residency slots catch up.  Some states are increasing their budgets to teaching hospitals to underwrite the addition of residency slots and the beginning of new residency programs.  Some states are allowing other health care professionals to perform services once performed only by doctors.  Some states are still “wallowing” in bureaucratic doldrums.  The solutions are a “little bit of this and a little bit of that”.

 In the meantime, thousands of unmatched doctors are dealing individually with an unimaginable “betrayal” and all that it encompasses (school loans, no career path, and despondency).  They “did” what we told them to do, and we “broke the contract”.  Ultimately, “we” will pay the price for this travesty.  Right when the baby boomers tap into healthcare the most, there will be a doctor shortage.  Forget about “preventative care”.  We will be lucky to get “reactive care” for our healthcare challenges.

 When the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 reduced the reimbursement for residencies, yet increased the number of medical schools, the resulting impact has been devastating.  “We” knew this Act was not perfect at the outset, and changes would have to be made.  Little did we know the “individual” repercussions that would ensue. 

 These unmatched doctors have worked so hard, for so many years, and at such great expense, not to be able to complete the final step in their training.  The “right hand” of Congress definitely did not know what the “left hand” was doing.  We have got to make this RIGHT! 

 Only your voices and those of your contacts can effect the “tsunami” needed to bring this solution to the forefront.  Please write, tweet, share, and “demand” a solution now!

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A Tsunami of Outrage/ Residency Shortage

A Tsunami of Outrage/ Residency Shortage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvXBq9P_hjw

 

   Do you remember the outrage that ensued after the 2-3 hour wait times and missed flights that occurred at O’Hare Airport the weekend of May 14, 2016?  Frustrated passengers began tweeting #IHateThe Wait.  US Senator Mark Kirk, IL, called for TSA Administrator, Peter Neffenger, to fix this problem by Memorial Day or step down.  Even the White House weighed in on this travesty. (1)  By May 25^th Mr. Neffenger told members of House Homeland Security Committee that the agency was taking measures to resolve this issue.  By May 24^th an airline official said that O’Hare’s waits were down to 15 minutes.  That took 10 days to “fix”!

 This outrage is what has to happen to solve the current travesty of the residency shortage.  There are no “normal channels” to solve this crisis.  The Federal government is moving in typical fashion, slowly.  The first legislation introduced was “Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2011.  It was proposed again in 2013, and again by Senator Bill Nelson, FL, in 2015 (S1148) and by Representative Joseph Crowley (HR 2124) in the House.  Nothing has been passed or implemented at this point.

 This bill would increase the number of residency slots by 15,000 over a 5 year period.  We already have more that 40,000 unmatched graduates right now over the last 5 years alone!  The AMA and the ACGME have not proposed any solutions.  Only a few states have created legislation (generally applicable only to their own citizens). 

 The only glimmer of hope has been the budgetary allocations some states have made.  They have offered financial incentives to hospitals to increase residency slots or add new residencies.  This has had some success.

 Why are we not as outraged as the passengers at O”Hare Airport?  These unmatched doctors have spent more that 4 years of their lives and countless dollars trying to complete their medical training.  But they are deadlocked.  If I were they, I would gladly accept a 3 HOUR security delay in view of their own situations.

 We have to get the “word out”.  We have to tweet, blog, share on facebook, contact healthcare professionals and societies, contact legislators, and yes, even the White House!

(1)http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-18

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Solve DOC Schortage State by State

Solve DOC Shortage State by State

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSaPTPzTRyY

Until the residency deficit has been resolved, I suggest that each state “preserve” its own doctors.  Currently, the “best numerical candidates” prevail in the residency match (see previous blogs).  That would have to change. 

The tradition of Medical Education is to “reward” the “best” students.  The students with the best GPA, the best test scores, get into the most competitive schools and residencies.  It’s hard to change that mindset.  Every institution wants to attract “the best”.  Any graduate doctor who has passed the requirements of “The Match” already is “the best”.

 I recall the tuition for medical school in South Carolina 5-10 years ago.  Tuition for in-state residents was approximately $50,000/year, and out-of-state $80,000/year.  I remember thinking that if accepted to a South Carolina medical school, a student could get their education, but South Carolina would not be underwriting any part of that cost.  South Carolina would not share in the expense of a doctor’s education, only to have the graduate leave upon graduation.

 Here are the dollars that Florida has allocated to increase the numbers of residencies in the state:

• 2013, $80 Million for recurring State and Federal funding for Graduate Medical Education (residencies)
• 2015, additional $100 Million appropriated by Florida Legislators for “Graduate Medical Education Startup Bonus Program”
• Program “Gives hospitals a one-time $100,000 Bonus for every new residency slot in shortage specialties” (1)
• The first year 66 new residency positions in seven shortage specialties qualified for the bonus” (1)
• Florida faces a shortage of 7,000 physician specialists by 2025

As described in a prior blog, Arkansas and Kansas are garnering doctors for their own states.  Their residency solutions apply only to their citizens.  Until the residency deficit is eliminated, I believe that Florida should do the same.  Florida tax dollars are providing the monetary incentives to increase the number of residencies in Florida.  So Florida residents and its unmatched doctors should benefit.  Residency selection in Florida residencies should be skewed toward residents of Florida, not using the traditional numerical ”cutpoints”.  Florida is addressing the residency shortage by allocating tax dollars to increase the number of residencies.  The State of Florida and its doctor grads should benefit from these tax dollars.  These are the doctors who plan to live, work, and stay in Florida.

(1)http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/florida-increases-medical-residency-slots-still-faces-doctor-shortages#stream/0

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Slam Dunk? / Politics / Residency

Slam Dunk?/ Politics/Residency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZt3xeV_n00&t=2s

   Too many medical students, yet not enough residency slots.  Impending doctor shortage, yet “discarding” fully educated doctor grads.  Why isn’t the solution to this dilemma a “slam dunk”?  Because nothing is ever that simple.  There are the “politics” involved that complicate the solution to this deficit. 

                                                            (Bloom's Taxonomy) 

    Is there really going to be a physician shortage, or are the VA, The Affordable Care Act, and some states planning to utilize less expensive physician assistants and nurse practitioners to administer healthcare?   Josanne Page of the Cleveland Clinic said, “P.A.s generally make about half a physician salary or less, depending on specialty (an ER doctor makes an average $270,000, an emergency-room P.A. $112,000).” (1)

 “ And several states, such as Arizona, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Vermont, and Washington have liberalized laws to enable nurse practitioners and PAs to perform some treatment normally done by doctors.” (2)  The Affordable Care Act has allowed millions more insured patients, with a shortfall of sufficient doctors to treat them.  Compared to other countries, the US has 2.5 practicing physicians per 1,000 people vs. 3.2 physicians per 1,000 for an average of 34 other countries. (3)

 Is a PA or NP qualified to see patients as effectively as a doctor?  A PA curriculum typically requires 1 year of classroom learning and 1 year clinical work.  A NP requires a 1-3 year program post graduate after obtaining a nursing degree.  Doctor training requires a minimum of 7 years after college.  The 3 doctors in my family had 7 years, 10 years, and 11 years of post college training.  The further depths of knowledge and medical experience afford a doctor a level of synthesis not attainable with lesser years of study. 

 A dermatologist I know recommended that a patient obtain a consult regarding a skin ailment, sometimes associated with pancreatic cancer( The patient returned to thank the doctor for the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer which might have been missed under normal circumstances.)  Would a PA have known that correlation? 

  An OB/GYN doctor told a patient to obtain further diagnostics for continued lactation after cessation of breast feeding.  There is an association with pituitary tumors with uncharacteristic lactation.  The patient did end up having a pituitary tumor.  Would this have been noticed by a PA?  Often, a doctor never enters the room when a PA is seeing a patient.

     Ironically, PAs who by “definition” are “supervised” by a doctor, are allowed to work immediately after graduation.  A doctor with 4 years of medical school cannot work at all, until obtaining a license upon completion of a residency.  They can’t even work as a PA due to the stringent PA licensure rules!

(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/education/edlife/the-physician-assistant-will-see-you.html?_r=0

(2) http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/08/11/to-address-doctor-shortages-some-states-focus-on-residencies

(3)http://www.epi.umn.edu/mch/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ACA-Overview.pdf

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Doctor Shortage / Waste

Doctor Shortage/Waste

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZt3xeV_n00&t=2s

 

   Let’s talk about the upcoming doctor shortage.  Here are some statistics and projections:

• 27.6% of the current physician workforce are age 60+ years old and likely to retire in the next 10 years (1)
• 32.6% of practicing physicians are women
• 46.1% of residents are women
• “Historically women have worked fewer hours than men-a trend that continues today” (2)
• 24% of current US physician workforce are IMG (International Medical Graduates)
• 25.9% of US “ resident” workforce are IMG
• “By year 2025 the United States will face a shortage of between 61,700-94,700 physicians”. (3)
• “Thousands of baby boomers are turning 65….seniors are the population with the greatest healthcare needs”. (4)
• “The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects there will be a shortage of between 12,500-31,100 primary care physicians in the next 10 years…equally troubling is the shortage of between 28,200-63.700 specialists.”(4)
• More than 40,000 fully qualified doctors have not matched into a residency over the last 5 years and cannot practice Medicine without residency training.
• 8,640 doctors did not match on March 17, 2016, what are they doing now?
• “With medical school and residency combined, it takes a minimum of seven years to train a doctor.” (4)

What are we thinking?!!!  In view of the upcoming doctor shortages over the next decade, we are simply “discarding” our fully educated doctors!  This just does not make sense!

(1)   page 12

https://www.aamc.org/download/452922/data/thenationsphysicianworkforceandfuturechallenges.pdf

(2)   page 13

https://www.aamc.org/download/452922/data/thenationsphysicianworkforceandfuturechallenges.pdf

(3)

https://news.aamc.org/for-the-media/article/gme-funding-doctor-shortage/

(4 )page 1

https://www.aamc.org/download/386378/data/07252014.pdf

(3)   page 2

https://www.aamc.org/download/386378/data/07252014.pdf

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