IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN BEING A DOCTOR BUT HAVE NO MEDICAL DEGREE...

Introducing DoctoringforAmerica.org 

         

The United States is facing a critical shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas of the country.  According to a recent report   by  the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) the shortage of physicians in the U.S. is not only problematic, but is certain to grow much worse.  According to the report, the AAMC “estimates a shortfall ranging from 34,600 to 88,000 doctors by 2025, compared to what our growing and aging population may need. By 2030, the shortfall is expected to total anywhere from 40,800 to 104,900 doctors.”        

The new report  by the AAMC “analyzed the health care needs of underserved populations and projected that if all Americans had the same access to health care as insured, non-Hispanic white populations, the country will need tens of thousand more doctors to provide medical care.”

To help solve this crisis, DoctoringforAmerica.org has been created.  DoctoringforAmerica.org is a program in which young, well-intentioned college graduates commit to spending two years working as doctors in rural and other underserved communities.  These young, hard working individuals will work as doctors after having completed an intensive one-month summer program, subsequent to having earned their Bachelor of Arts or Science degrees from accredited colleges and universities.

            These determined “doctors” who agree to work for DoctoringforAmerica.org will receive, of course, significantly less compensation than fully accredited doctors.  The net result, however, will be a significant savings to rural hospitals, many of which are cash strapped due to the burgeoning numbers of people unable to pay for their health care. Thus, the newly minted “doctors” will not only help stem the problem of inadequate health care in rural and underserved communities but their selflessness will also serve as an example to others.  For it is indeed not the money that attracts these good-hearted souls, but instead the desire to “give back” to communities they know little about.

            While some may argue that these young people do not have the experience or training to serve as doctors, the one-month training each “doctor” receives from doctoringforamerica.org is more than sufficient for all medical specialties, from general practitioners to surgeons. Some naysayers might also insist that while being a general practitioner is easy enough, being a surgeon must require more than a month’s training and skill development. While technically true, it is important to remember that most medical circumstances do not require surgery. Additionally, doubters need to understand that despite the newly minted “doctors” medical inexperience, those selfless individuals genuine desire to help the underprivileged equates to a net patient benefit because “something is better than nothing.”   

That said, it is understood that being a “doctor” for DoctoringforAmerica.org is exhausting and soul destroying when patients don’t respond properly or recover from the illnesses they are suffering from. For this reason, it is understood that the “doctors” who receive their training and first formal doctoring experience through DoctoringforAmerica.org will serve their respective communities for only a short time.  After the “doctors” have done their two years of community doctoring, it is anticipated that most will move on to their chosen careers as lawyers, bankers, or something for which they are more formally trained to do or more interested in pursuing as a career.

            It is expected that a few  “doctors” from the DoctoringforAmerica.org program who develop a knack for diagnosing diseases will choose to become certified, licensed physicians. Those individuals will have their medical school requirements waived as a result of their immersive experience. Other “doctors” who choose to remain in the medical field but who would prefer not to become licensed physicians will become, as a result of their intense on the job training, expert administrators who lead hospitals or medical review boards.

We at DoctoringforAmerica.org do not pretend to have all of the solutions to the national doctor deficit.  However, we believe that we are serving the community by offering an alternative to more expensive solutions. Our “doctors” are earnest, hard working, and willing to practice medicine for substandard pay. DoctoringforAmerica.org graduates do not mean to in any way diminish the hard work of some licensed physicians.  Nor do we believe we are better than those seasoned  medically trained individuals.  Those noble individuals interested in becoming “doctors” through the DoctoringforAmerica.org program need only fill out a short form, be sincere, and commit to the one-month summer program. 

Jay C. Rehak, Certified Public School Teacher, and President of DoctoringforAmerica.org.