patrick.net

Man oh man that would be some sweet justice.
The same Liberals that championed every thing about Okeydokeycare, end up having a Doctor that just this time last week, he was in his country, where it was appropriate to whip his dick out and piss on the wall next to the hospital entrance, next to a busy street, and kids pinch a loaf on the hospital cafeteria counter, now here is Dr. Chachacha doing surgery on them.

tovarichpeter says

Foreign trained doctors could help solve "physician shortage" in California

"medical tourism" is way way ahead of this. why have them go to you when you can go to them... costs overseas are a fraction of domestic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism

CaptainShuddup says

Man oh man that would be some sweet justice.

The same Liberals that championed every thing about Okeydokeycare, end up having a Doctor that just this time last week, he was in his country, where it was appropriate to whip his dick out and piss on the wall next to the hospital entrance, next to a busy street, and kids pinch a loaf on the hospital cafeteria counter, now here is Dr. Chachacha doing surgery on them.

Sounds like many hospitals in los Angeles.

chanakya4773 says

The existing doctors (AMA) will fight tooth and nail to prevent this. Who doesn't want to protect their salaries at the expense of consumers.

The AMA (which represents less than 20% of doctors) sold out doctors by endorsing Obamacare, which strengthened the position of hospital corporation and HMO executives, who can increase their bonuses by hiring cheaper doctors from elsewhere. As Meccos pointed out, most doctors opposed Obamacare. Considering how the AMA skews Medicare funding to the most highly paid specialists, I think the most likely scenario is foreign doctors might be limited to general practice in HMO environments, so the first person your kid sees might be someone who doesn't speak English very well, but the last person your grandma sees before enduring another round of chemo will be a fluent native speaker.

It is bizarre that the idea of bringing in more foreign doctors as a way to drive down wages is never discussed. Readers of a front page Washington Post article on using nurses for some of tasks currently done by doctors must have been puzzled by this omission.

While allowing nurses to do work for which they are qualified would seem to be a win-win for everyone but doctors, it seems especially strange that this piece never raised the possibility of bringing in more foreign trained doctors as a way to drive down wages and save patients and the public money. This is done all the time in the case of nurses. Many nurses are brought in from developing countries, most notably the Philippines, as a way to drive down the wages of nurses.

There is no justification for not having the same approach to foreign doctors. Obviously doctors as a group are more wealthy and powerful than nurses, but news outlets are not supposed to adjust the news to suit the desires of the rich and powerful.

tovarichpeter says

it seems especially strange that this piece never raised the possibility of
bringing in more foreign trained doctors as a way to drive down wages and save
patients and the public money

Yeah, but who is going to pocket the savings-the hospital CEOor the insurance company CEO??? You think they are going to pass those savings to us??

I still can't understand why you all hate on doctor's making 200K a year? It's not any easy job, and it takes a lot of investment on their part. BTW foreign doctors don't drive down prices. They come here to make 200K

Unemployed Americans can be trained to do these jobs.

tovarichpeter says

news outlets are not supposed to adjust the news to suit the desires of the rich and powerful.

You must be an engineer from a foreign country. American commercial news outlets don't need to "adjust the news", maximizing $$$$ has long been their express purpose.

tovarichpeter says

save patients and the public money.

The purpose of the system is to INCREASE prices and extract MORE money from the patients and the public. If the purpose were to save money, we would eliminate much of the federal legislation in this area, including Obamacare and the Rx requirement. Also, we would offer free medical education, and it would be shorter so people could focus on what they actually want to practice rather than climb huge barriers to entry. Seriously, you have to look at the system objectively to see what it was designed to do. It is operating as designed by lobbyists maximizing their clients' revenue by making people people pay more.

nw888 says

I still can't understand why you all hate on doctor's making 200K a year?

Americans have been programmed to despise anyone doing PRODUCTIVE or demanding work. Everyone who works for a living should be part of the race to the bottom, and to imply otherwise is "unAmerican".

I am an emergency room physician. I supervise nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). Anyone that thinks that someone practicing medicine with a 4 years bachelors degree (NPs and PAs) vs someone with a 4 years bachelors degree, 4 year MD, plus 4 year residency will give the same level of care is purely delerious. As NPs and PAs provide more care, be prepared for medical disasters and media frenzies. Then everyone will be like, why are unqualified people practicing medicine?

The other possible outcome will be that those with goverment health insurance (Medicare and Medical) will get stuck being treated by NPs and PAs and those with great private coverage will get MDs.

jeffgrossman says

someone with a 4 years bachelors degree, 4 year MD, plus 4 year residency will give the same level of care is purely delerious.

Hey Doc, estimates for Iatrogenic death in America range from 200,000 to 650,000. Which number do you think is most accurate?
Delayed Diagnosis and then Hospital Acquired Infection killed one of my closest friends this year. I got to say goodbye to him while dressed in a moon suit in his MRSA ward. All because of the filthy, victorian environment in this "teaching facility". I just wish they could teach you smug fuckers to wash your hands.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/getting-doctors-to-wash-their-hands/
Or write legibly.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1578074,00.html
Personally I have, in recent years, received more attentive, compassionate care from the "service providers" that you denigrate. I am happy to see an NP or PA walk into the examination room.