Pediatricians May Not Have A Dependable Prospectus Yet to Be
By: Cory Ellerd
Submitted: 2010-05-05 15:15:41 | Word Count: 876
In other locations in the country, Pediatrics in Texas is experiencing many of the same challenges as other medical disciplines. Of the approximately 63,000 physicians in the Alamo state, about four thousand seven hundred specialize in Pediatric medicine. For many of the 800 Texas urologists the future is uncertain. Of those roughly forty seven hundred Pediatricians, nearly four thousand and sixty-six are M.D.'s and 173 are D.O.'s. While there may be some differences in training, both M.D.'s and D.O.'s are equally qualified and eligible to become a physician of Pediatrics. A physician of Pediatrics on average has at least eleven to thirteen years of learning including a B.A. in a healthcare or science related area, a medical doctorate (graduate, Alleopathic or Osteopathic), and an accredited Pediatrics residency (post-graduate).
HEALTH CARE REFORM
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The continuing story of health reform having an impression on all medical disciplines. Until it becomes clear accurately what is being changed and how that will influence each party the market will be hamstrung. Uncertainty affects spending on growth and hiring at all levels of health care.
Some parts of the bill are trying to tackle shortages in primary care. The Senate bill encloses a measure that would furnish a loan-forgiveness program for pediatric sub-specializations, easing the financial difficulties of medical-school costs. The federal Medicare program funds training programs for adult medicine. Congress five years ago authorized funding for pediatric specialty training, but the funds must be re-authorized every year.
Pediatric clinics keep on pressing for to more funding for residents. The cost of education is going higher (see California!) and yet the income for pediatrics is not on a par with many other specialties. There may be a need to get remuneration for training or upper reimbursement for pediatric residents, in the hope of encouraging more doctors-in-training to enter the domain. Sub-specialization typically requires up to three years of training beyond a general pediatrics residency and historically can compensate salaries less than half the rate of adult specialty medicine.
INCREASED DEMAND
The demand for pediatric sub-specialists is continuing to increase for the following reasons:
* More Educated people requesting sub-specialists for treatment
* Increased obesity rates among children
* Fellowship programs not meeting the current mini boom in population of kids
Many general pediatric residents are pursuing pediatric sub-specialty training. The number of subspecialty training openings has not adequately increased during this last decade.
RISING DEMAND RISING INCOME
For some time now there have been assumptions of deficits of physicians of many specialties in the US. For pediatrics the issue seems to be with the subspecializations like neurology, gastroenterology, and developmental and behavioral medicine and pediatric surgeons. As a result of this shortage, incomes have outpaced other medical specializations. The lack is significant enough that the salaries for some of these sub specialties is approaching that of adult specialties for the first time. According to the MGMA Physician Compensation Surveys pediatric sub-specialists salaries have increased greatly and for one of the first times, pediatric surgeons truly earn more than their adult surgeon counterparts.
SHORTAGES
This augmented demand is on top of the fact that clinics report that jobs for the top Pediatric specialties are going unoccupied; reporting unfilled in pediatric-rehabilitation medicine, hematology and oncology, and cardiology. For families, that often means waiting for months to see a specialist and incurring heavy travel costs to find suitable care.
DEMOGRAPHICS
An overriding issue is the demographics of the United States. The main majority of the inhabitants in the United States is the baby boomer age bracket which is now entering retirement age. The "boomers" cause several problems, one this means the bulk of physicians are retiring just when they will be needed most, two as we grow older we demand more health care services. Greater need for services will cause an even greater financial pressure on the government through increased dependence on Medicare. Finally a good news / bad news is they may live longer then any age group before but this will further hamper the budget with demands on Social Security and Medicare. Even though the boom problem does not directly impact pediatrics, it does indirectly in that their increased need will mean higher salaries for those specialties that care for them and less for pediatrics. To further confuse the issue there is a mini baby boom going on now that will directly increase demand for all pediatric specializations.
Solutions:
To cope with the crisis, many hospitals are turning to telemedicine, remote consultations using two-way video systems-and mobile vans that may drive hundreds of miles to set up clinics in under-served areas. Hospitals are also more often shifting to adult specialists to treat kids, although not all are willing to do so since their teaching is for adult physiology rather than kids.
