Can specialists really turn into generalists?
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A new model of personal social service based on primary care and covering every citizen, with or without problems, is suggested by author. This, he feels, would make up for the inadequacies of the present service.
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Medical students are influenced in their career choice by many factors. By government mandate, 50% of medical students from each graduating class should select primary care as their career choice. Peers and mentors contribute additional influences. The student's personality, preference for living in a rural or urban community, and the possible educational and cultural opportunities for self and/or family in a particular community are also influential factors. The medical student choosing orthopedic surgery as a professional career faces competition; there are four applicants for each residency opening, and the number of orthopedic residents allowed for each program is being reduced. The current belief of policy-makers both outside and within orthopedics is that there are "too many specialists of all kinds." The present article examines the factors that influence the medical student's choice in career selection and shows the present trend of clinical practices.
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OBJECTIVE: To examine differences between the general medical and mental health specialty sectors in the expenditure and treatment patterns of aged and disabled Medicare beneficiaries with a physician diagnosis of psychiatric disorder. DATA SOURCES: Based on 1991-1993 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data, linked to the beneficiary's claims and area-level data on provider supply from the Area Resources File and the American Psychological Association. STUDY DESIGN: Outcomes examined included the number of psychiatric services received, psychiatric and total Medicare expenditures, the type of services received, whether or not the patient was hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder, the length of the psychiatric care episode, the intensity of service use, and satisfaction with care. We compared these outcomes for beneficiaries who did and did not receive mental health specialty services during the episode, using multiple regression analyses to adjust for observable population differences. We also performed sensitivity analyses using instrumental variables techniques to reduce the potential bias arising from unmeasured differences in patient case mix across sectors. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Relative to beneficiaries treated only in the general medical sector, those seen by a mental health specialist had longer episodes of care, were more likely to receive services specific to psychiatry, and had greater psychiatric and total expenditures. Among the elderly persons, the higher costs were due to a combination of longer episodes and greater intensity; among the persons who were disabled, they were due primarily to longer episodes. Some evidence was also found of higher satisfaction with care among the disabled individuals treated in the specialty sector. However, evidence of differences in psychiatric hospitalization rates was weaker. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health care provided to Medicare beneficiaries in the general medical sector does not appear to substitute perfectly for care provided in the specialty sector. Our study suggests that the treatment patterns in the specialty sector may be preferred by some patients; further, earlier findings indicate geographic barriers to obtaining specialty care. Thus, the matching of service use to clinical need among this vulnerable population may be inappropriate. The need for further research on outcomes is indicated.