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Medical Students Weigh in on Healthcare Reform

Author Healthcare Career Blogger | 03.08.2009 | Category Medical Students, Medical doctor jobs, Physician Career Path, Physician Shortage, Physicians, Pre-Med Students, Video, healthcare reform

Like the doctors they aspire to be, medical students are not in total agreement on an ideal healthcare reform proposal. Many worry about the effect that reform will have on their chosen profession, others feel skeptically optimistic about the current bill, while still others feel that President Obama’s proposal is not enough.

A major personal concern of many medical and pre-medical students stems from the astronomical cost of medical school. Over 75% of medical students graduate with well over $100,000 of debt. The only thing that makes this cost a valid investment for many students is the fact that physician jobs salary are high enough to allow for repayment of those loans, but medical students and physicians alike worry about the effect that national healthcare reform will have on doctors’ salaries. Not only will salary reduction affect individual physicians trying to pay back medical school debt, but it is also likely to discourage future would-be physicians from making such an investment in the first place, leading to an even greater shortage of physicians.

Still, many medical students are optimistic about healthcare reform – if it is done right. One current student addresses the public’s fear of socialized medicine by saying that these fears have, ironically enough, “been realized in our privatized system […], with insurance companies and HMO’s dictating the care that can be provided and who can provide it.”

Medical student supporters of healthcare reform, including the American Medical Student Association, have a number of criteria and suggestions for a successful healthcare proposal, including:

• Coverage for all must actually mean coverage for all.  In order for healthcare reform to work, all patients should have access to all doctors, and no discrimination should exist against the elderly or against those with pre-existing health conditions.
• Transparency and accountability are necessities.  Insurance companies must be held accountable for their increasing costs.  Beyond that, insurance companies must not be allowed to deny claims for provider-prescribed care.
• There must be a greater focus on preventative care and cost-effective health care maintenance.  Great Britain, for example, rewards primary care physicians who maintain the health of their patients and who effect positive health changes in their patients (quitting smoking, eating healthier, starting a workout regimen, etc.).
• Incentives should be developed to encourage medical students to pursue primary care, rather than a more specialized field.  With the influx of patients expected from increased health insurance coverage, PCP’s will be in high demand.  Scholarships and loan repayment programs for medical students intending to focus on primary care will lessen the need to go into a high paying sub-specialty in order to pay back debt.

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