Overview Of Medical Specialties
Emergency Care Review As the population ages, the need for Emergency and Urgent care also rises. The existing physician shortage in the United States is expected to go downhill over time. Other issues are encouraging this shortage as well, including the spiralling economy and the recent approved health care reform. As is the case elsewhere in the country, Emergency Medicine in Texas is experiencing many of the same challenges as other specialties.
Urology, the surgery field of the urinary passages and the male reproductive system, is a consistently increasing field for physicians in the United States. Now, approximately forty-three million men in the United States are plagued with urological maladies of some sort. Some of these non-surgical maladies include bladder incontinence, urinary tract infections, and benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Until there is resolution to the current political debate, the healthcare industry will be in limbo. The same thing happened when Hillary Clinton was leading the push for healthcare reform in 1993. Only when it becomes clear what the future will be, hospitals and physicians are unable to make plans for the future.
A recently medical study shows students are reportedly choosing not to specialize in gynecology due to the high cost of malpractice insurance. Litigation has caused the insurance premiums to rise, which has led to many OBGYN leaving their practice. In the meantime, the number of positions is expected to grow faster than average between now and 2014 due to population growth. This had led to fewer health care options in many states for women.
History of Cardiology Cardiology has been a prime medical specialty throughout the history of modern medicine. Cardiologists treat diseases and irregularities of the heart. A general cardiologist does not perform surgery. Physicians in the cardiology field who do perform surgeries include cardiac pulmonologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and cardiovascular surgeons. Modern cardiology has a deeply rooted history with theories still in use dating back to 1628.
Clearly as the population ages the need for oncology services will increase. The only question to ask is will there be money to pay for this increased need and where will it come from in this economy? The ongoing debate between the Republicans and Democrats over health care really centers on whether it should happen at all and if it does who will pay for the additional 30,000,000 people to be insured.
Hospitalist Specialty Overview/Introduction- In the United States, there are approximately twenty eight thousand Hospitalists practicing today. Approximately 50% of hospitals across the nation have a branch of this specialized unit. Because of growing demand many medical education facilities are developing Hospitalist-based residencies. Hospitalists have just developed in the last ten or fifteen years.
Demographics The face of United States is changing dramatically according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau the average age is increasing quickly. The number of people aged 65 and over are expected to double within the next 25 years. Almost 20% of all Americans will be 65 years or older by 2030. Further, the age group 85 and older is now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. The health of older Americans is improving.
HEALTH CARE REFORM The ongoing saga of health reform having an impact on all specialties. Until it becomes clear exactly what is being changed and how that will effect each party the market will be hamstrung. Indecision effects spending on expansion and hiring at all levels of health care. Some aspects of the bill are trying to address shortages in primary care.
Urgent Care Review As the population ages, the need for Emergency and Urgent Care also grows. The current physician shortage in the United States is expected to worsen over time. Other issues are affecting this shortage as well, including the shrinking economy and the impending health care reform. Primary Care Shortage leads to Urgent Care Physician shortage.
Uneven Supply Psychiatrists are not spread across the country evenly. Nationally, the psychiatrist per 100,000 population ratio stands at about 16.5 per 100,000. That ratio, which reaches its high in Massachusetts at 31.1 per 100,000, bottoms out at 4.6 per 100,000 in Idaho. Counter-balancing the five states with the highest ratios Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Texas are the five states with the lowest ratios: Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, and North Dakota
Economics and Health The job loss caused by the recession directly impacts all physicians income. When millions of people lose their jobs, they also lose their health care insurance and physicians lose patients that can pay. Hopefully the job loss is a short term set back, but it does affect demand for services and income for physicians immediately. This in effect destroys the underlying projections of the growth of demand made just a few years ago.
Orthopedic Job Outlook About 4% of all 650,000 physicians are specialized in Orthopaedic Surgery according to the Labor Dept. Over half of the physicians practicing orthopedics are general orthopedics, while eleven percent are spinal, ten percent are sports medicine, and the remainder specialize in other sub-specialties of Orthopedics. The big issue is that as many as 33% of today's practicing physicians may retire by the year 2020.