{"id":1035,"date":"2019-05-26T20:52:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-27T03:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1035"},"modified":"2019-05-26T20:52:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-27T03:52:55","slug":"get-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1035","title":{"rendered":"Get Better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The WAMI class that entered in 1982, back when there was just one “W” in WWAMI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you\u2019ve heard the statistic quoted that Idaho is last (or near) among states in doctors per capita. If medicine was a simple business that ratio might mean the dearth of physicians would ensure doctors in Idaho are among the best paid, supply and demand being what it is. But in fact, Idaho doctor salaries are about average to below average. Medicine may be a business but the economics are complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Governor Otter\u2019s commitment to boosting medical\neducation in Idaho was supported in the legislature when I was there. In that\ntenure, the Idaho WWAMI program grew from 20 seats to 40. WWAMI is a medical\neducation consortium of 5 states: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and\nIDAHO. Those 40 seats are reserved for Idaho resident applicants. Idaho\nstudents now spend their first year and a half of the four years of medical\nschool in Idaho. Many are based in small towns and rural communities, learning\nfrom the local physicians and patients about managing disease and chronic\nillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical training takes many steps. After receiving a\nbachelor\u2019s degree (usually a four-year process) the next step is four years of\nMedical School. Then there is the residency step that takes 3-10 years,\ndepending on the specialty one chooses. After residency docs go hang a shingle\nand see what they will be paid. Most doctors in Idaho make over $150K, so it\u2019s\nnot a shabby income. But many could do better elsewhere; market forces are\nreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for most doctors it\u2019s not just the money that motivates.\nMost want to serve; their patients, serve their communities, serve their\nprofession, serve their families. Unfortunately, many doctors put their service\nin that order. Families can suffer. If you are a small community in need of a\ndoctor, think about what you can do to make a family thrive in your community.\nCould the schools be better? Do you have a good library? Do you have\nopportunities for a spouse, a family to thrive? Doctors will like such\nopportunities; so should you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But getting a doctor is just part of the process. Keeping\none and keeping them good is another. The Idaho WWAMI program is not just about\nrunning students through the four years, they are also committed to supporting\ndoctors in small communities stay strong, stay informed, practicing good medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the toughest fields of practice for rural family\nphysicians is behavioral health (the new term for\npsychiatric-emotional-personality-addiction problems) and chronic pain. The\nexplosion Idaho and our nation have seen in overdose deaths from narcotics is\njust one indicator. Docs haven\u2019t been doing the best managing pain. And most\npsychiatric care in Idaho is provided by primary care providers; we are last in\nthe country for psychiatrists and behavioral health specialists. WWAMI saw this\nneed and responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years ago, WWAMI set up the ECHO program. Providers\n(physicians and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers or\ncounselors) participate remotely in an interactive online session to discuss\nthe difficult problems they face. The sessions focus on how to prescribe\nnarcotics appropriately and managing behavioral health. Such support will go a\nlong way to keeping providers at the top of their game in this rural and\nfrontier state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hear about the cost of care, Medicaid and Medicare, who\npays and who doesn\u2019t. There is no doubt that the medical industrial complex has\na strong presence in \u201cthe swamp\u201d as our president refers to the\nbusiness-political morass. And I\u2019m sure there\u2019s plenty of ideas about how to\nget out of this mud hole. Payment affects behavior; sometimes. But we, in our\ncommunities can make health care about being healthy. I would hope our dear\nstate of Idaho has such a vision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe you\u2019ve heard the statistic quoted that Idaho is last (or near) among states in doctors per capita. If medicine was a simple business that ratio might mean the dearth of physicians would ensure doctors in Idaho are among the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1038,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035\/revisions\/1038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}