People today enjoy better diets and greater shelter from the elements than ever before; but exposure to other people is greater, obesity is becoming pandemic, and the general population is aging. The modern world is a benefit to health, but also creates unique medicinal problems. The solution lies between the determination of the individual to live carefully and the ability of the healthcare provider to dispense aide. That is you, if you are a medical or nursing student.
The status of Medicine:
Americans spend more money on healthcare than any other country in the world. Although the United States is wealthy, about 16 percent of the entire Gross Domestic Product is dedicated to medicine. This is an extraordinary amount of money, estimated about two and a half trillion dollars. It is good if you are a medical student; expect plenty of jobs and a stable career. On the other hand, it costs society an incredible amount of money. If you are an average person, earning less than 30 thousand dollars a year, the cost of going to the doctor is inflating and growing faster than a blob monster. It threatens to devour anyone not rich. On top of the fact, Americans are not necessarily the healthiest people in the world.
The system has done a good job of handling pandemics; plagues wiping out a third of the population does not happen today, in spire of the potential with millions of people crammed into cities. Advances in medicine make it possible to cure even the most radical diseases and bodily dysfunctions. On the other hand, we are older and our waist size has grown over the years. Obesity and old age are expected; obesity and youth is a challenge to the economy. It is unfortunate we spend so much money on healthcare, then ruin our bodies so effortlessly by not taking care of them. Complications with things such as overeating, smoking, and poor nutrition amount to billions of dollars that might be spent elsewhere. The cheapest medicine is prevention, and so you are your own most important doctor. Intelligent living in youth greatly reduces the expenses incurred in old age, and so the cost of medicine is much higher than need be. If people only took care of themselves, they would not face mounting bills.
Everything is connected
On the other hand, everyone in society pays for this. In the United States, healthcare is still substantially a market enterprise, and hospitals are actually private institutions. Since demand is rising higher than the number of healthcare providers, doctors are pressed harder for their time, and so may command higher salaries. Personnel really is the major factor in health costs. The solution to cheaper medicine comes on three fronts:
> The will of the individual to live carefully
> The will of college students to pursue medicine as to provide greater supply
> The will of government to subsidize public health programs to ensure more nurses and doctors.
On the other hand…
Healthcare also rises because the richest members of society pay the most. They demand the best and newest equipment, and this raises the bar in the entire industry. Much of the rising expenses relate to new technology. American healthcare is the best in the world, but also the most expensive. Sixty-two percent of bankruptcies relate to medical bills. If you are a normal person, take care of yourself and get insurance. If you a student, seriously consider pursuing a masters in public health. You are serving society in a desperately needed way, and guaranteeing yourself an exciting and rewarding career.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi there, reading this, I get the importance of being in public health. And that is to strike a balance between the healthcare system we have in place, the costs of health care in the country and improvements in the delivery of health care. This is to say that getting a masters in public health is a sure way to contribute to that discussion and perhaps even an acceptable resolution for everybody.
But I do have a question, how does the masters in public health degree prepare you for a job tackling these issues? What sort of training do you get that you cannot get from other degrees?
I think that the greatest challenge of public health professionals is to strike a balance between affordable and accessible health care and improvements in the field. We’ve all heard about the arguments of having a universal health care plan and I do think that it’s going to do some serious financial damage to our nation’s budget, but the premise of affordable health care for everyone is really attractive.
Thank you for your analysis here. I agree that everything is connected. We have the best health care facilities and skills in the world, but it is very expensive. As such, the demand for skilled doctors is really up. The only way to decrease the cost is to provide a steady supply of skilled doctors so that we could lower their fees. If not that, we could insitute better and more proactive public health programs to do the same thing.
We have really come a long way when it comes to health care. Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, we have longer life spans and less premature deaths. I agree that it is a good thing and a bad thing, as longer life spans mean that we also have an older population compared to 20 or 50 years ago. This, in turn, increases the demand for health care making it more expensive. Sigh, it’s just too complicated. Here’s to wishing that a lot more of today’s young people get a Masters in Public Health degree so that they could contribute to solving this dilemma!
I think that this is the first blog post that I’ve come across that deals with our own responsibility for public health. I agree, students should be urged to take futher studies in public health, eventually taking up a masters in public health course. And I agree that everybody should be insured so when medical emergencies and serious illnesses come their way, they will be prepared. Both of these have their own rewards, so it shouldn’t be too much of a sacrifice!