Primary care shortage woefully lacking in innovative solutions

New ideas are needed to correct the primary care shortage but increasing med school admissions and increasing reimbursements will not increase the number of primary care doctors substantially. Here is copy of letter I sent to New York Times.

April 27, 2009
New York Times

Re “Doctor Shortage Proves Obstacle To Obama Goals” (front page, April 27):

Admitting more students to medical school and increasing reimbursements will not substantially increase the number of primary care doctors. What will however is making their training more practical by shortening it from 11 to 7 or 8 years.

The majority of primary care doctors no longer take care of hospital or nursing home patients. Most of their time is spent in their offices with patients whose illnesses do not require virtuoso talent in science. What primary care doctors need is practical training that prepares them for the real world of medicine. And in the real world, most primary care doctors find almost half of their time spent on coordinating the care of their patients, acting as “health care brokers”. The actual medical care they do has become significantly lesser.

The point is that by shortening and tailoring primary care doctors’ training to what they actually do, an important first step will have been taken to increasing their numbers and to lessening the obstacles to President Obama’s plans for reform.

Ed Volpintesta MD