General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Study: Falling fertility rates are ‘demographic time bomb’ [View all]hughee99
(16,113 posts)Med schools didn't pop up overnight. It also helps that that Cuba has a population density greater than all but 10 US states which means it's easier for someone to visit a hospital relatively close by with the care they need (much in the same way it's easier to see a good specialist in the Northeast than it is in the Midwest)
Even if you build 20% more med schools, they're STILL 4 years away from producing any doctors, and that's if you completely skip residency (which I'm not convinced is a good idea either).
Can the US get there eventually? Sure, but it's not going to happen over night, or even in a relatively short period of time so there should some sort of plan for this rather than just expecting market forces to work this all out for us.
Sure, you can try to fill the gap in the meantime by importing doctors (which the US already does) if you want. Why not, we've already exploited poorer countries for so many other resource, let's lure their doctors away too. Screwing over some other country's medical care system is a small price to pay so our doctors can make 20% more.