Greg Stoddart and Morris Barer1 attempted to list the possible causes of recent physician shortages and have also questioned whether increased medical school enrolment will solve our physician supply problems. However, they did not discuss many important factors that have contributed to the shortages. For instance, a greater percentage of today's physicians are involved in child rearing, which could reduce the number of hours they practise. They also failed to point out that the number of subspecialties has increased and this could contribute to the short-age as well.
They were correct to observe that doctors are increasingly concerned about lifestyle issues, which may mean a reduction in practice hours, but they did not question whether this trend is due to the type of students we now select to enter medicine. In the past, medicine was considered a vocation: the physician dedicated his life to medicine and had few outside interests. Today, medicine is a profession like any other.
Increasing medical school enrolment is important, but it is also important to select students who are going to dedicate most of their time to the practice of medicine and less time to other pursuits.
Reference
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