Quote Originally Posted by slikstiks99:
I don't know why you need 6+ years of education to peddle prescription drugs anyway. A computer program can do a better job than a doctor and a pharmacist for that matter. Technology needs to start taking over for these overpriced and overeducated doctors. Think about it, how much of the orthodox drivel do these professionals really retain? 30% if that is my guess. A computer with the assistance of lab work could do a better job and account for all variables.
Same argument with a pharmacist.
Nurse practioners and lab work can take care of 75% of the responsibilities.
technically a nurse practitioner can write prescriptions so you dont need to go to med school...
pharmacy schools however had converted to the pharm-d and everyone needs a doctorate... I argue against the mechanizing everything as pharmacists are the human element of checks and balances for doctors and nurses when it comes to medications...
as a medical professional I can tell that I probably use about 5% of what I learned in classes (mainly ethics and law)... but maybe about 20-30% of what I learned in practicum,and internship...
the reality is that education is only to get the opportunity to actually work in the field and gain the hours, experience, clinical supervision to get certification/licensure to actually be able to work... So most of what I do I learned on the job...
so being able to retain what you learned in school is irrelevant... the key is to continuing education to keep current and this is a requirement for most license/certification... if you go into the medical field, expect to be a life long learner...
I could give you a whole rant on education and licensure/ceritfication, but that would be off topic...
the reality is that you are correct that most can be done by nurse practitioners in terms of primary care physicans... PAs are another good route for this...
If you think about it, if this is the model that is adopted it will save the government money by spending less to fund obama care... so I would think that fiscal conservatives would be in favor of there not being enough doctors because logically it will cost less... I question why people would want otherwise...
and if people understood simple economics... it is simple supply and demand... with the nurse practitioner becoming in more demand their pay will increase, which will result in people going to school to become nurses... I do not get the idea that standards for doctors will be decreased...
the logical effect is that doctors will want to differentiate themselves as far as possible from nurses in terms of standards... this will result in the clear division between doctors and nurses and specifically what they can do and more importantly what they can bill... but this is a dollars and sense train of thought...
you see this with doctorate level psychologists and master level psychotherapists and clinical social workers... people in my field often bittch about the standards for education, accreditation, etc... but the reality is the higher standard, the higher chance of higher pay...
the reality is the war for medical providers is not in being able to take patients... the demand will be there and obamacare will refer patients and pay for them...
the battle right now is how much everyone is going to get paid... the rates are being negotiated and fought over right now in government contracts, medicare etc... so what obamacare comes out with could be a huge swing in money that drives the changes in medical professions... but this is a part of the health care reform... it is a ripple effect on the whole sector...
and its not just about independents like me that will probably stay away from obamacare entirely (too low of a rate and people I dont want to see, I have the right to refuse service)... but places that will look to provide comprehensive services where obamacare coverage is accepted and it is their best interest that the standards are higher because they will be able to bill more... and also make the claim that obamacare providers are better then non-obamacare providers...
its a really messed up game...
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