 October 2002 • Volume 8 • Number 10 |
To the editor:
I am a second-year family practice resident and National Health Service Corps scholar, which means I have agreed to work in an underserved area after residency in exchange for the years that the NHSC has paid for my medical school. Most placement sites are in rural areas.
The NHSC has recently instituted a policy change that affects and concerns me greatly: NHSC participants no longer are allowed to complete fellowships following residency. I and many other FP NHSC participants had planned to do an obstetrics fellowship, knowing that current training in family practice residencies often inadequately prepares graduates to practice obstetrics in a rural or remote setting.
I feel that this change adversely affects that level of care that I -- and others -- will be able to provide to underserved communities. Furthermore, the NHSC is limiting the scope of practice and training available to FPs.
I encourage NHSC alumni and participants to write to the NHSC regarding this or to network with me via e-mail -- my address is brendanlawrencewebb@hotmail.com.
Brendan Webb, M.D.
Chicago
To the editor:
The problem FPs have with getting malpractice insurance continues. I have had an extremely difficult time getting coverage, even though I have never been sued. I have been a doctor for nearly nine years but just opened my own practice a little over a year ago. My policy last year, which cost $4,100, was set to expire in August. For the coming year, one company quoted me a premium of $16,000! I finally found a company that charged $8,300, though I had to lower my coverage slightly to get that price. It's still more than double last year's premium, but I was glad to get the coverage.
This is ridiculous! This is the top story for family physicians at this time -- keep covering it in FP Report. And the Academy should keep up the pressure on the government to solve this problem.
Babette Mitchell, M.D.
Tallahassee,
Fla.
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To the editor:
I've been an AAFP member since 1967 and have taken the American Board of Family Practice certification and recertification exam five times. But now, they want me to retire -- they want to make me extinct!
I made it through the last millennium without learning how to turn on a computer. Now, if I want to keep practicing, I have to take my recertification exam on a computer. If I have to do that, I'll retire instead -- even though I had intended working for another 10 years.
I hope the ABFP will see fit to keep the "pencils and papers" for dinosaurs like me. Otherwise, they will be a factor in making the shortage of FPs in rural areas considerably more acute (and I am one of the few who still deliver babies).
Thomas Jacobsen, M.D.
Hettinger, N.D.
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Copyright © 2002 by
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