European Union predicts shortfall of one million doctors and nurses by 2020

Overseas-trained doctors accounted for 37% of UK-registered doctors in 2008.

25% of practicing physicians in the United States and 28% of U.S. medical residents come from abroad. Of these, 25% were trained in India and Pakistan.

At the same time, U.S. lawmakers suggest we save money by training fewer doctors, according to the UCMC Dean editorial.

The mounting shortage of physicians nationwide is expected to grow to 90,000 by 2020.

Compare this to China where typically 3-4 newly qualified doctors will rent a flat together to defray their costs (BusinessWeek). The U.S. has one public health professional for every 635 people. The rate in China is one per 7,000.

Comments from Google Plus:

Tim Sturgill - Makes you really wonder about the EU and US physician shortcomings—what are we going to do? Medical Home? I don't see this ideal broaching physicianopenia. I'm beginning to see ED impressions that list "failure or failed primary care." Is there a trifecta coming: Physicianopenia, Medical Home, and Readmissions?

Colin Son - Wow even more than the percentage of foreign grads in the United States http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/11/countries_without_doctors

Ves Dimov - The mounting shortage of U.S. physicians nationwide is expected to grow to 90,000 by 2020.

References:

Off the record Europe: Workforce planning. British Medical Association, 2011.
Countries Without Doctors?
Image source: Openclipart.org

Nurses seeking more health care authority, patients "don't see a big difference"

From USA Today:

Each year, Wendy Fletcher says, she and two partners see more than 5,000 patients at their practice in Morehead, Ky. They are not doctors, but rather registered nurse practitioners who say they are able to increase access to health care and make it more affordable.

"None of us are trying to play doctor," she said.

Nurse practitioners are "gaining traction because people are seeing how cost-effective they are," Patton said. "The primary care physician shortage is going to drive it."

Judi James, 56, who lives in Morehead, Ky., said she gets her basic medical care from a nurse practitioner and has no qualms about going to see a nurse rather than a doctor.

"I really just don't see a big difference," James said. "The nurses are the ones who take care of you anyway, not always the doctor. If I need a specialist, she'll send me there."

Is this the beginning of the end of the primary care doctors in the U.S.?

Comments from Google Buzz:

Vamsi Balakrishnan - Then...what's the difference of a nurse from a PA?

Aidan Finley - There's no real difference between a NP and a PCP for routine patient care.

From Twitter: @CarmenBPhillips: at ped's office, my kids most often seen by NP.

References:

Nursing covering more health care

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

Some nurses paid more than family doctors - CNN

Primary care doctors were offered an average base salary of $173,000 in 2009 compared to an average base salary of $189,000 offered to certified nurse anesthetists, or CRNAs.

It's the fourth year in a row that CRNAs were recruited at a higher pay than a family doctor.

Comments from Google Buzz:

Jeffrey Benabio, MD - And soon doctor of nursing programs will graduate nurses who call themselves "doctor" in clinic. Physicians have been asleep at the wheel.

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

Francesco Diana - without words

Anne Marie Cunningham - Both of these are very high salaries. As @scanman points out, they are unobtainable for most people working in health in India and countries. Can we tolerate such global inequality?

How should salaries in any part of the world be determined? Are both these groups paid too much?

At the moment there is a great deal of uncertainty on how the role of a doctor differs to the role of a nurse. Professor Alan Maynard suggests that professions are bad for healthcare. http://www.healthpolicyinsight.com/?q=node/458 What do you think?

References:
Specialist nurses paid higher salaries than family doctors - Mar. 11, 2010. CNN.
Infographic of the Day: The Best Jobs in America
http://www.focus.com/images/view/7362

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.