My son is about to turn eighteen years old. He is a straight A honor student and he just recently scored a 33 on the ACT. Colleges are currently fighting for him and offering him academic scholarships. My son was raised by two family practice doctors. Many of our friends are also doctors. His grandfather is a doctor. He has been surrounded by doctors for all of his life. Someone recently asked him if he was going to follow in his parent’s footsteps and go into a career in medicine. My son laughed and said he had not yet decided what he wants to do with this life. The only thing he knew for sure is that he did NOT want to be a doctor.
Over the past century, someone who grew up in an environment like my son would have most likely become a doctor. They would have at least seriously considered it. There is a growing number of young people in our society who are currently hearing the horror stories regarding the practice of medicine in an over-regulated environment. The best and brightest are being frightened away. The schools that educate our next generation of healthcare providers will have no choice but to start lowering their standards as our nation’s need for healthcare providers increases. Less intelligent people will eventually gravitate towards this profession purely for the financial rewards. The best and brightest will be bright enough to go elsewhere.
The only advice I would have for the next generation is to make sure that you do not get sick in the future under any circumstance. If you think healthcare is bad in the United States right now, then I have news for you… you ain’t seen nothing yet.
