Doctor Shortages
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
A doctor shortage occurs when there are not enough trained doctors to treat all patients who require medical care.
Doctors are in high demand, but their availability in the labour market is limited or non-existent. The reason for this is that training new doctors is time-consuming or takes a longer period, and it is also a very expensive process. In addition, our country for example has very few medical schools. One profound effect caused by the shortage of doctors in the country is that there is serious pressure on the few available doctors especially in government hospitals because a thousand patients who go to such hospitals will be waiting to see a few doctors within a short time.
Another effect is that there will be no quality care; patients will not receive the best possible care from doctors because they are in a hurry to attend to other patients. The work is also difficult for them to handle and complete on time, so they will be stressed as a result of all the difficult work that has been completed.
There will also be a higher or increased demand for payment from the patients as a result of the work done, the stress and strain on doctors, and the time spent looking after the patients.
Because of the number of patients, they will have to see, there will be unnecessary booking or long waits before a patient can see a consultant.
Among the solutions to the doctor shortage are the following:
Increasing patient awareness of self-care, as technology for monitoring health, becomes more affordable.
To expand and help provide health services, we must promote it in our society and bring it to places where it is not normally practised.
We can all help to increase the number of doctors by establishing more learning institutions where future doctors can learn.
In conclusion, the issues raised above are some of the causes of doctor shortages in our country, as well as some profound solutions.