Opinion
Bank balance, not work-life balance, a reason why primary care shunned
LETTER — Posted Nov. 14, 2005
Regarding "Specialty selection: Men, too, seek work-life balance" (Article, Oct. 3): The article on life-work balance was very interesting. However, I suspect that the waning interest in family medicine (and other primary care specialties) among U.S. medical students has far more to do with high hassle factor and low reimbursements common to these specialties and far less to do with life-work balance.
Until these things change, I have little confidence that the American Academy of Family Physicians or anybody else will be able to increase the number of U.S. graduates choosing these specialties.
Nell Nestor, MD, Hendersonville, Tenn.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/11/14/edlt1114.htm.