Many doctors plan to quit or cut back: survey

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Doing a residency depends on if he has already done one and how long he's been out of school and what percentage he gets on the USMLE's. Waleed said he already found out that to get a fellowship into a surgery specialty he has to get a 98-99% on all his tests.

[S and S 12]

Doing a residency depends on if he has already done one and how long he's been out of school and what percentage he gets on the USMLE's. Waleed said he already found out that to get a fellowship into a surgery specialty he has to get a 98-99% on all his tests.

My husband finished medical school in 2005. He couldn't do residency as the hospital they assigned him to in Iraq was in an area where they would have killed him (wrong side of Islam for that area). All he could do was work for awhile for free at a hospital in Amman but they really treated him and other Iraqis more like interns than residents. It was better than nothing at the time and at least kept him exposed to medicine. He will pretty much have to start at the beginning for residency, but that is fine as it will be a whole new place for him and is probably better that way.

[DeadPoolX 9]

The largest loss in physician specialization has been OB/GYN doctors. The cost of malpractice insurance is astronomical. If anything goes wrong with a delivery -- whether or not it was the doctor's fault -- the parents will often sue, thereby increasing the physician's insurance premiums. Even worse, if the OB/GYN is male, allegations of sexual harassment and/or sexual abuse are easy to make. Even if the doctor is proven "not guilty," his reputation would have been completely ruined.

Other specializations have been hurt as well. It's not unusual for a patient to sue over trivial matters. Don't get me wrong -- there are some very good reasons for suing a physician, but the number of valid versus invalid lawsuits is completely lopsided. The medical profession is quickly becoming a field in which few wish to enter. All of this means that eventually there will be far fewer doctors around. Finding one will become a job in of itself and due to the shortage, medical prices will go up. I can't imagine this is what anyone truly wants.