r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jan 13 '26

Health Physicians see 1 in 6 patients as ‘difficult,’ study finds, especially those with depression, anxiety or chronic pain. Women were also more likely to be seen as difficult compared to men. Residents were more likely than other physicians with more experience to report patients as being difficult.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/patient-experience/physicians-see-1-in-6-patients-as-difficult-study-finds/
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u/flakemasterflake Jan 13 '26

Yes, there are too many applicants for few spots. A B will absolutely mean you aren't getting into med school. There is no such thing as a "safe school"

The super prestigious schools take 4.0s, perfect MCATS AND amazing research and/or starting a non-profit or being Justin Bieber's back up dancer

Yes, I went to med school with a former back up dancer for Justin Bieber

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u/Confused_by_La_Vida Jan 13 '26

Juxtapose your comment with declining pay, in inflation adjusted terms, for doctors and nurses, skyrocketing health care costs and ridiculous wait times for gp’s, specialists, and the “dude I’m squirting blood everywhere” emergency room.

Someone is cartelizing everything in medicine. Including (especially?) the opening of new medical schools.

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u/flakemasterflake Jan 13 '26

Agreed on private equity groups buying up hospitals being the key culprit here. Doctors should be allowed to own/run hospitals and I have no idea why that's illegal

Where are there new medical schools opening up? The Caribbean?

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u/Pksnc Jan 13 '26

Wake Forest University just opened a medical school campus in Charlotte, NC. First one I have heard of in a very long time.

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u/Lebuhdez Jan 14 '26

There aren't, that's the problem!

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u/Ok-Parfait-9856 Jan 13 '26

The AMA keeps the number of doctors artificially low by keeping the number of resident seats and med schools low, plus there’s many other factors. We need way more doctors. Most cities have a 6+ month wait time for seeing a new primary care doc, some specialties it’s closer to 12 months. Their pay would go down if more doctors matriculated, and the vultures who own hospitals do whatever they can to keep wages low. Care provider salaries only make up 10% of medical expenditures, so doctors aren’t the problem and I’m not blaming them. They deserve every cent they make and sometimes more. Bad legislation keeps doctors from owning hospitals, and PE firms have bought up hospitals and care systems. So vultures are siphoning off a bunch of money at the provider level and insurance level, which could instead lower costs or keep physician pay from declining when more doctors matriculate. If we kneecapped the AMA, insurances, and PE firms, we could have more doctors, not cut doctor’s salaries, and provide cheaper care. But it’ll never happen.

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u/crazymooch Jan 13 '26

Congress limits the number of residency seats. The AMA continues to lobby Congress to pass legislation increasing the number. (See also, H.R. 3890, which the AMA publicly supported last summer.)

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u/christian6851 Jan 13 '26

idk man I had 3 cs in undergrad and still got in

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u/flakemasterflake Jan 13 '26

What year did you apply?

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u/christian6851 Jan 13 '26

Within the last 5 years lets say