Low supply high demand: disinterest in medical profession fuels health care crisis.

• Author: Sutherland, Spencer
• Position: Focus

During the current health care reform debates, a myriad of options have been discussed to help Americans gain better health care access. Though details such as pre-existing condition waivers, coverage portability, and premium subsidies are certainly important, one crucial component is continuously overlooked: health care providers.

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According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, the United States is facing a serious shortage of health care professionals--from doctors to the support staff admitting patients or handling paperwork. The association reports that the country is already short 15,000 doctors and if all Americans were to have health coverage, that deficit could increase to 150,000 in 15 years.

So how can the health care industry keep up with the growing demand? It would seem that the short answer is to simply train more doctors and hire more employees--though that would cost an estimated $2 billion each year. Unfortunately, the industry is finding that the problem goes deeper. With the high cost of medical school, the number of years it takes to graduate, and the long hours medical professions require, younger generations are choosing to look for careers elsewhere.

THE PRICE OF A GOOD SALARY

Like many of his medical school colleagues, Robert Jones, an orthopedic surgery resident, has wanted to be a doctor for as long as he can remember. The son of an ophthalmologist, Jones grew up around medicine and as he got older he became intrigued by the science of the profession as well as the lifestyle it provided. Now, a decade into his training, he worries about money as much as he does his training.

"When my dad was my age, he went to the best school in the country. It cost $8,000 a year and he paid for it with a government-subsidized loan," Jones says. "Thirty years later, $8,000 is still the maximum amount of a government loan, but my debt from schooling will be around $200,000."

Because of the high cost of medical school and decreasing salaries of primary care physicians, students like Jones gravitate toward higher-paying specialty fields.

"Recent trends in health care reimbursement have only increased the differences in earning potentials between medical specialties," Jones explains. "It's hard to not pay attention to that fact when looking at potential career paths."

In addition to heavy debt, medical students have to decide if the long hours are worth the U.S. average annual base salary of $173,000...