That’s a step in the right direction, and something a few institutions are trying.
Prospective doctors who graduate in excess of $200,000 in debt find the allure of a specialist salary too enticing to pass up. As this commenter notes, even if medical school were free to generalist physicians, “choosing to specialize can easily result in lifetime earnings $10 million higher than choosing primary care.”
Contrary to what Dr. Parks says, it’s not either this or “increasing the remuneration by a certain percentage points on office visit billing codes.”
We need to do both, and even then, it may not be enough to save primary care.
