Bradley Flansbaum
Posted 10/16/11 on The Hospitalist Leader
My last post discussed the dollars allocated to GME funding, and the constituents involved in defending it. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), AHA, and academic medical centers all are proponents of continued support. Members of congress representing districts with training hospitals also endorse sustained flows of tax dollars into to these facilities for obvious reasons.
Below is a frequently distributed graph illustrating the actual and theoretical demands for future physician labor:
Given this shortfall in staff then, why would the government cut funding?
We work in hospitals and it is natural to safeguard services that are essential by our standards. However, front line physicians have not mastered the actuarial sciences, and our assumptions regarding what is “vital” differs. My objective however, is not to promote the projections of others—right or wrong, but alert you to alternate views so you may formulate a reasoned stance.
Care And Cost 