ACP reports on how scheduled Medicare pay cuts will affec...(are physician in their communities. ...),Health

Another part of the survey asked medical students and physicians in academic settings about the effects that cuts to Medicare payments could have on the careers of future physicians. ACP wanted to know what the not-too-distant future for care of the increasing number of Medicare patients may be, noted Dr. Harris.

The most dramatic response was that 100 percent of the responding medical students said that Medicare physician payments are at least somewhat important in a medical students selection of a specialty.

More than 60 percent of the medical students said that if they chose to specialize in internal medicine they will choose to sub-specialize rather than go into general internal medicine.

By contrast, some 89 percent of the teaching physicians said they believe that positive and predictable Medicare payments would increase the number of students choosing to train in primary care medicine.

One internal medical educator pointed out that, teaching in a residency program, I come across medical students who are less likely to choose internal medicine as their career due to already low pay and high education loans. The scheduled cuts will certainly drive them away from internal medicine, making future healthcare difficult for all ages.

In May, ACP will host a series of events held over five days in Washington to highlight the impact of the dysfunctional payment system on practicing physicians and patients, the state of todays health care environment and the need to reform the national health care system.

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