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That would increase competition and thus depress wages for existing doctors, who are the ones who make the decisions here. I heard, from a medical school attendee, that she overheard some doctors discussing whether it would be a good idea to require a fifth year of medical school to become a general practitioner (luckily, they were like, "Eh... nah"). It did not seem like it bothered them that this would make it even harder for civilians to get medical care.

by triceratops1 hours ago|

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I thought lawmakers made the decisions. Silly me! :-D

by waterhouse1 hours ago|

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Theoretically yes. But I think at least part of the decision they've made is to delegate a chunk of the decisionmaking to doctors' guilds. Which—on the one hand, they are experts of a sort, but on the other hand, they have an obvious conflict of interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Medical_Association#R...

Wow. 1997: https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/03/01/ama-seeks-limit-on-r...

> “The United States is on the verge of a serious oversupply of physicians,” the AMA and five other medical groups said in a joint statement. “The current rate of physician supply — the number of physicians entering the work force each year — is clearly excessive.”

> The groups, representing a large segment of the medical establishment, proposed limits on the number of doctors who become residents each year.

> The number of medical residents, now 25,000, should be much lower, the groups said. While they did not endorse a specific number, they suggested that 18,700 might be appropriate.

by triceratops41 minutes ago|

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I've read about that before. I personally am of the belief that Medicare funding for residency slots should be eliminated over time. Also freely allow the opening and expansion of medical schools and teaching hospitals. Over time things should settle into a comfortable equilibrium of enough doctors making decent wages for everyone to be treated at a reasonable cost.

But maybe that's a free market fantasy. Who knows.

Or the alternative. Government-owned everything healthcare - facilities, hospitals, med schools, doctor practices. Doctors only work for the government.

The current system is neither here nor there and is designed for maximum profit.