There are all sorts of wonderful folks who do forgo big bucks to practice in underserved communities. There was this story I read of a Hispanic girl in California, daughter of farm-workers I believe, who struggled to get into medical school, but could not afford the price - her avowed intent was to return to her home town and practice in her community. She fortunately, found a sponsor. However, with the passing of effective affirmative action, stories like hers will be far fewer. There are programs out there that will pay medical school expenses in return for a promise to spend a minimum amount of time in communities in need. I think it was 60 Minutes that ran an expose of some beneficiaries of the program who reneged on their promises - the government should do a better job holding them to their contracts. That was years ago, I do not know the status of such programs today.
Yes, the people who opt out, for whatever reason, do create a problem for the system. A bad deal for everyone, as you say. And any reform of the system must take this into account, or is doomed o fail from the start. |
