One specific health care problem is the shortage of primary care physicians. There are various reasons why fewer people are deciding to be primary care physicians, but the one that is most often cited is the matter of money. While a primary care physician can make a good living, their income will generally be less than a specialist. Of course, it is not just a matter of money: some people decide to be specialists because of the challenge, out of personal interest in the area, or out of pride. But money seems to be a rather important factor.
There have been various attempts and proposals to address this matter. One approach is to increase the number of primary care physicians by providing financial incentives, such as support during medical school in return for a period of community service. There have been even better financial deals proposed, but the basic idea behind them all is increasing the number of physicians via the use of government subsidies. On the plus side, this would result in an increase in the number of such doctors (but the exact impact is still unclear). On the minus side, the money has to come from the tax payers (or China).
Another suggested approach is to allow nurses and other medical professionals who are not doctors step into the role of providing such care. In many cases, this sort of things is already being done to a degree. For example, when I had my quadriceps tendon repaired, almost all my follow up was with nurses and physician assistants. On the plus side, it is easier (and cheaper) to train people for these roles relative to what it costs to train a full doctor. Also, there would presumably be a larger pool of people willing and able to fill these roles. There is also the fact that much of the needed care does not actually require the training or skills of an actual doctor. As such, this could be a practical way to fill in the gaps in medical care. On the minus side, there is the concern that while such people could fill in many gaps, there would still be important gaps left unfilled that would still require an actual doctor. However, it seems likely that could addressed as well.
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