Ole J. Thienhaus, M.D., in a Med Page Today piece headlined “Docs Shouldn’t Have to Do Everything: Let labor demands influence training,” writes that “if we are serious about meeting market needs, we will have to let ultimate labor demands influence the design of professional training programs. {For example} Using fully trained obstetricians and fetal-maternal health experts to deliver babies in low-risk situations is indefensible if midwives can provide the same service. Expanding this concept to all medical specialties would dramatically change the physician shortage calculus.

“But to fully take advantage of the inherent efficiencies, our clinical training paradigms have to shift quite radically. Such a shift, in turn, presupposes a flexibility about the definition of healthcare worker roles that is currently in short supply among the physicians in this country.”

To read his essay, please hit this link.