<p>@iwbB,
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<p>Actually, the total number of students can increase a significant amount before the residency bottleneck becomes a problem.</p>
<p>What about the international students? I think the percentage acceptance is 0.04%, why is this so</p>
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<p>While yes, additional US med school grads will be able to a residency somewhere, that position will also displace an FMG. The net effect is no increase in practicing docs. </p>
<p>(Residency slots funded by Medicare have been capped at 100,000 since 1997.)</p>
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<p>Not even close to the number of docs needed to service the booming and aging population. (Better check your sources!)</p>
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<p>The AMA has almost nothing to do with this (besides conducting cademic research studies to Congress showing the shortfall.)</p>
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<p>Because a significant amount of US or state government money goes into training medical students. Aside from all the government money that goes into medical schools (and the fact that most medical students are at least partially dependent on federal loans for which international students are not eligible), all residency positions are funded in (large) part by Medicare. So there’s an expectation that government money will be predominantly used to train US citizens.</p>
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<p>There are a few new medical schools opening up. I don’t remember the names, but you can google it to figure it out. </p>
<p>Aren’t you 18 and haven’t been through college yet? I’ve been through college and grad school already. Every single one of my friends from high school who wanted to go to medical school got into medical school. I’m not lying. Most of them were smart, but not that smart. A few were not super good test takers and did “alright” in high school. And depending on where you went to college, getting As is not that hard. I believe that a lot of unqualified people are applying. And to make things easier for you, and since med schools like these types of applicants, you can major in a liberal art then do the premed reqs or do a post-bac. Depending on the school, doing either will probably make it easier to get good grades.</p>
<p>Right now I’d be wary of applying because of the high tuition costs, and potential salary decreases under Obamacare. Unless you really want to be a doctor, it’s probably not worth all the debt although there are some really cheap in-state alternatives.</p>
<p>Regarding the other post, can’t the AMA approve new schools to get more spots?</p>
<p>" Right now I’d be wary of applying because of the high tuition costs, and potential salary decreases under Obamacare. Unless you really want to be a doctor, it’s probably not worth all the debt although there are some really cheap in-state alternatives. "</p>
<p>This is what I’m thinking about. So maybe P.A school isn’t so bad.</p>
<ol>
<li>It’s extremely difficult to get into medical school, and despite the dire warnings from previous, the number of applications keeps going up. The recently concluded application cycle had the highest number of applicants ever.</li>
<li>It’s also extremely expensive with 1/4 of graduates owing over $200K.</li>
<li>If you graduate from a US medical school, you’re pretty much guaranteed a residency(not necessarily the residency you want)</li>
<li> The economy is terrible and it appears that the recovery is very slow indeed.</li>
<li> Even so, most grads in medical professions-MD, DO, nurse, pharm, PA, etc-ares a hot property. As part of the GNP, medical care keeps growing, projected to hit almost 20% by 2020.</li>
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<p>So it’s up to you if you want MD or PA or Pharm…it’s a matter of money, time, and interest. But don’t kid yourself-since this is where the jobs are, it’s tough to get into all medical fields(some more than others) and that’s not going to change anytime soon.</p>
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<p>A few of my friends are graduating from state med schools with less than 80k in loans. Some of these schools are also easy to get into, with a greater than 30% acceptance rate for in-state. Since rankings don’t matter much for med school, it sounds like a good deal. Besides cheap instate schools, med schools give out scholarships to people with high numbers. That said, a good percentage of med school students have their parents pay for all of it, so they have less to lose if they end up hating it. If you are paying for it on your own, you have a lot to consider. Maybe work for a few years to save up money so you will have to take out fewer loans. Plus, once you work you will be able to manage your schedule better and it’s easier to get admitted as a non-trad since you will have an X factor.</p>
<p>Brian:</p>
<p>watch your comments about federal health care legislation. Any projections is pretty much a no-no on cc. :)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/270906/data/table24-mcatgpagridall0911.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/download/270906/data/table24-mcatgpagridall0911.pdf</a></p>
<p>Hopefully this link gives you guys hope. Confirms that a lot of unqualified applicants are applying. According to this 27% of people with 3.2 to 3.39 get into medical school, and that’s a pretty bad GPA at most schools. If you keep your GPA up past a 3.6, the odds will be in your favor of getting in. There’s also no rush in going straight out, so you can study for the MCAT after you graduate and it will make things easier.</p>
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<p>Would the AMA want to significantly increase the number of physicians who would increase competition in the marketplace (as distorted as the medical marketplace is in the US) against existing physicians (AMA members)?</p>
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[New</a> medical schools open, but physician shortage concerns persist - amednews.com](<a href=“http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/29/prl20329.htm]New”>http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/29/prl20329.htm)
And
[Medical</a> schools close to reaching long-term enrollment goals - amednews.com](<a href=“http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/05/21/prsc0522.htm]Medical”>http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/05/21/prsc0522.htm)</p>
<p>Prob not significantly but the AMA has done some work in increasing positions recently. I think it will be easier to get in in the near future due to more available positions and increased tuition as a deterrent. And by deterrent, I’m inferring what we have seen in other fields–people who tend to have better numbers are more often deterred by high costs from applying than those with lower numbers. Basically, high scorers tend to be more risk averse than low scorers. Instead, the first may consider going into other fields, like working for hedge funds, etc. where they can make more money faster. </p>
<p>But, the AMA is basically a monopoly artificially inflating physician salaries so yeah I don’t think it wants to make a significant increase. The AMA is a big reason why specialty salaries are so high. I’m curious to see what effects Obamacare and the increased federal role in compensation will have on physician salaries.</p>
<p>Jonri, your evaluation is pretty close. If you have acne and are in Manhattan or certain parts of Los Angeles, you will see a Derm who will have had the highest credentials to get that position, and might not accept insurance (such as PPOs) so they can charge much higher rates. If you are in a traffic accident, you will be taken to a Level 1 or Level 2 trauma center. However, Emergency Medicine and General Surgery/Trauma Surgery (the specialists who will evaluate you) plus all other possible subspecialists (neurosurg, plastic surg, orthopedic surg, ENT, Ophthalmology) are still specialities that are desirable by US Med school grads. But if you have bad diabetes or high blood pressure, then yes, you will be seen at your Fam Practice office by a foreign medical grad or a nurse practictioner.</p>
<p>^If you are in our city (Midwest) and want to see Derm., you will wait in line for several weeks. The same for neurologist even for a kid who have non-stop (cyclical) headache. I will not even seek ENT, as they charge incredulous amounts and Ophamology is no problem, I can get appoitment any time and it would be covered for most of it. I really do not care about credentials. If MD helps me, I will come back, if not and if I paid tons out of pocket, forget it…One of the best on my list, the doc. who I really trusted and who helped me a lot, including educating me about condition, was my chiro (who was not even MD), he was much much more knowledgeable and personable and willing to spend time with each patient than most MD’s that I ever visited. I do not care much for credentials, I have to see for myself. Another very good one was Physician Assistant at my Family Doc., she was much better than her superior (my Fam. Doc.) and a very young person too. No wonder she dissapeared very soon, my guess is that she moved on to something better. Too bad for us, the patients, I would have her instead of my MD any time. It depends on a person much more than credentials</p>
<p>If physician salaries are inflated than we need UPS driver reform too: [A</a> Novel Look at Physician Income: Why a medical career is the wrong career if money is one of your primary motives](<a href=“http://www.er-doctor.com/doctor_income.html]A”>A Novel Look at Physician Income: Why a medical career is the wrong career if money is one of your primary motives)</p>
<p>It’s pretty hard for the salaries to be inflated when they don’t even keep up with inflation: [Study:</a> Physician compensation not keeping up with inflation - FierceHealthcare](<a href=“http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/study-physician-compensation-not-keeping-inflation/2009-06-23]Study:”>http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/study-physician-compensation-not-keeping-inflation/2009-06-23)</p>
<p>Considering loans of $350k, are they looking very inflated? I am not sure about that…</p>
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<p>That may have been true 30+ years ago.</p>
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<p>Source, please?</p>
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<p>The accrediting body of med schools, LCME, does have AMA-appointed reviewers, but if you look at the membership list, you’ll see that they are all academics, i.e., from other med schools. (Why would these academic types be in the business of inflating wages for their private, specialty colleagues?) </p>
<p>The AMA nor LCME had any involvement with the University of California Regents approving a new med school at UC Riverside. LCME will come around evenutally for an accreditation review.</p>
<p>[LCME</a> Members](<a href=“http://www.lcme.org/members.htm]LCME”>http://www.lcme.org/members.htm)</p>
<p>btw: less than half of all practicing docs are members of the AMA.</p>
<p>Nothing like a few facts to puncture someone’s little conspiracy theory :)</p>
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<p>Oh, wow, the median specialist income is “only” 339,738. When there’s high unemployment and over half of college grads are jobless or underemployed, be happy that you have a job, and a high paying job at that. You can easily pay off student loans with a 300k+ salary. If you have student loans of 350k and did poorly on the Step 1 so that were forced to become family physician for “only” 180k, that’s a risk that you assumed when you applied. Maybe you should simply have tested better.</p>
<p>I think a lot of pre meds and med students are just whiney. If you want to make a lot of money fast, work for a hedge fund or do PE. Then again, a lot of the skills don’t translate towards those fields since they want quant-minded people, and med school is all about brute force memorization, but it’s worth a try.</p>
<p>As for the AMA, here’s a few articles explicitly referring to the AMA as a monopoly. I’m sure there are more and I’d be happy to google them for you if you need it.
<a href=“http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/09/a_spoonful_of_monopoly_helps_t[/url]”>http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/09/a_spoonful_of_monopoly_helps_t</a>
<a href=“http://www.nationalreview.com/critical-condition/47909/ama-more-monopoly-crisis-professional-association/john-r-graham#[/url]”>http://www.nationalreview.com/critical-condition/47909/ama-more-monopoly-crisis-professional-association/john-r-graham#</a></p>
<p>as long as you’re googling, mind coming up with a few less biased sources than the economist or - lol - the national review?</p>