One problem confronting the American healthcare system today is the projected shortage of physicians. Depending on the study, within the next several decades we will be short tens of thousands of physicians (61,000-95,000 by 2016 numbers released by the AAMC). At the same time many physicians are reporting dissatisfaction with their occupation and high rates of burnout with many physicians stepping away from seeing patients to retire, find another occupation, or employ their expertise in a non-patient setting. Therefore one way to alleviate the shortage of physicians is to keep more physicians in practice for longer.
People go into medicine for many reasons. Many good, some not. Whether said or unsaid, many go into medicine because of the challenge, because they find the human body interesting, and because they enjoy solving problems. And medicine certainly provides a venue for solving challenging problems associated with the human body. Howeveras important if not more important than raw intellectual power is the need to be able to relate well with others even when going through difficult circumstances.
If I were to make a prediction, it would be that those medical students and young physicians who first and foremost were interested in the patient and secondarily were interested in the disease process were the ones who went on to have successful and happy practices. With the push for humanism in medicine, perhaps we will see this trend alleviatethe projected physician shortage and help to make healthier physicians and patients.
JR.Stanley 