Many sage docs who know their business are leaving the medical world...retiring, burned out from all the covid B.S. sick and tired of fighting the insurance companies and whatever else they are leaving for. I'm having a hell of a struggle finding a eye surgeon on my blurry vision. Long waits, one I'd like to see says, can't get in until Feb 2024. My brother is finding this true in New Hampshire too, as his gf has the start of what sounds like dementia can't get into see a doc, long wait.. I gave him a limited education on Coconut Oil for the brain and he's off to Whole Foods to buy some. There is a good deal of info online on CO and the brain. Dr. Mary Newport has a lot to say as how it helped her husband when he was in the throws of Cognitive Decline. Anyway doctor shortage!!!!
I went thru 3 cardio doctors in Texas less than 5 years. They retired. Then here in Kansas the two family doctors we both just got ,a month ago -retired the other on leaving in August. You know things are bad when doctors complain to you how sick they are of being told what to do by the large companies that buy them out.
It is difficult for private practice docs to make ends meet in many areas. Obamacare was designed in part to remove individual practices and force doctors into group practice so the government could better track them. The pandemic drove many to the edge also when pharmacies refused to fill prescriptions and they were not permitted to treat their patients as they saw fit and in ways they believed would serve their patients best. Many docs are smart and can find employment elsewhere, but they also have student loans to pay off and that is a burden. I guess they could work for Big Pharma or become lawyers.
A best doctor in my whole life was a D.O. I started with him when I was in my 30's and he took care of my back for years....then I got him involved in what turned out to be a thyroid issue.....he fixed that issue. He worked PT into his 90's and I love loved that man ... old school and down to earth simple office. Fixed my thyroid and no labs.. He knew...