So how much is your insurance going up due to Obamacare?

I don't think we want doctors whose major goal is financial reward. Of course noone expects them to become monks, but we're really not served if financial reward is a far more prominent reason for choosing the profession than helping people plus scientific curiosity plus ability to have a profession that allows autonomy, self-fulfillment in using your expertise to help human beings (that you live comfortably sure, but it was the total package - if money is your main goal in life it's the wrong profession). And I think that's more how it used to be and purely money is more how it's becoming, and it's not going to improve people's experiences with doctors. But if your paying off 400k in debt your not even talking about "reward" anymore. Blackmail or something maybe.

Rob, I know you said somewere that Argentina gives health insurance to everyone. It may give emergency care, just like here, but it looks like you would still need some sort of Insurance, or pay cash, it you need care.

Argentina doesn't look that good to me. I guess if you got a job the union insurance may be OK, but can you even get a job if your not a citizen? And who want's to work? I don't know the cost, but it looks like you will still be required to purchase health insurance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Argentina

http://healthgov.net/argentina.php

http://www.expat-blog.com/en/guide/s...argentina.html

DMC, those were very interesting articles. The articles stated that wait times were long even for an x-ray & the quality of care really varied. The bottom line is that nothing is free. We as a society have to decide what the majority is or is not willing to pay for.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

We as a society have to decide what the majority is or is not willing to pay for.

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A couple of months ago I was preparing to travel to strange places and decided to get some immunizations against bad things. Called the county health clinic- soonest they could get me in was 5 weeks. Was traveling in 2 so called a private clinic. They got me in the next afternoon. I'm sure I paid for the convenience, but that is what we need. We can't have Cadillac services for everyone, but you also shouldn't make everyone ride the bus. I'm ok with free basic services as long we have the option to buy up on our own nickel.

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Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore

I don't think we want doctors whose major goal is financial reward.

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I really think there are very few MD's that have high incomes as their primary goal. Simply put, there are tons of ways to make that kind of money and almost every one of them is far simpler and less stressful.

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Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife

This is yet ANOTHER issue of American health care I don't know that I'll ever be able to forgive. The necessity for this level of debt to get through medical school is just inexcusable and sets physicians up to think in terms of money and the game that AHC (American Health Care) now is. Rob

To answer your question though, if I had that much of a passion to be a physician, I would realize that it would be working against myself to remain in America for either school or practice at a later date. I would leave. Rob

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The real trick isn't the money, its the time. You can always figure out a way to make money and pay off debt, but you can never get time back. How would you suggest we compensate someone for spending 10 years of their life learning to take care of us? Keeping in mind that the 10 years is very highly stressful, often involves 16 hour work days, long stints with no days off, etc.

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Originally Posted by Gregg

I really think there are very few MD's that have high incomes as their primary goal. Simply put, there are tons of ways to make that kind of money and almost every one of them is far simpler and less stressful.

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It is kind of limited to what you're good at - and what's marketable. Although if the goal was not money they really would not need another way to make that kind of money anyway.

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Originally Posted by creaker

It is kind of limited to what you're good at - and what's marketable. Although if the goal was not money they really would not need another way to make that kind of money anyway.

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Medical providers have very well defined skill sets. Med school isn't something most people could fake their way through. As for supply and demand that part is true regardless of profession. If you can fill a niche where there is a low supply and a high demand (like the medical field) you can make a lot of money. Countless opportunities to do that exist in fields that don't require a decade of schooling and training. It would be silly to say that absolutely anyone could pull if off, but most people significantly underestimate how many can. I know very few people who don't have the skills, most of them just don't have the guts to start or the persistence to stay in the game long enough.

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I know very few people who don't have the skills, most of them just don't have the guts to start or the persistence to stay in the game long enough.

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the skills to go to medical school? Well it does actually have to be something you are interested in (or else you truly are an utterly hollow person just pursuing money, my pure science friends looked down on the pre-med people this way as just in it for the money (because haha there is nothing but poverty in pure science) - but it's probably better to cut them the benefit of the doubt and assume that some truly want to help people). But what could I possibly know about medical school anyway, gee I don't know, my dad was in medical school for several years afterall, quit when he found out they were just toying with him to keep him on doing dirt cheap labor as a grad student and were going to pull every trick to keep him from actualy graduating. But he wanted to be a doctor? Well no, actually I don't think he ever did really (I don't think think he much liked dealing with most people in the particular, though he did want to benefit humanity in the abstract), ergo he wanted to do medical research. As for people in other fields and whether they pursue maximum money, maybe they just don't value money that much. I mean what will you sacrifice in the pursuit of money? I assumed it was a given you'd sacrifice other values in life if you really want to maximize money. So no they may see no path to riches anyway, but riches may not be their ultimate value anyway.

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Originally Posted by ApatheticNoMore

the skills to go to medical school?

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No. The skills to earn a lot of money.