U.S. Faces Shortage of Heart Surgeons

7As the wife of a cardiologist, I am downright worried.

My husband spent years training and now, just as he is going to begin his practice and recuperate the earnings he sacrificed becoming an invasive cardiologist, Obama's administration has decided to impact our future and fund their healthcare reform on the backs of healthcare practitioners. Here is the kicker. I voted for Obama, and I believe in reform, but what I see happening before me is not what I envisioned. What happened to ending the war in Iraq? The savings from that act alone would fund this overhaul. The result of the 26% cuts in medicare reimbursement (between now and 2012), along with those that will surely come with healthcare reform will be ruinous to cardiology. There is already a serious deficit in cardiology care within the country. People, we have to wake up and try to stop this before the cascade of events plays out. What will be next?

I am very disappointed that the funding is coming out of the doctor's pockets. We already pay a boat-load of taxes. When I think about the years of hard work, the call, the long hours, the holidays spent away from family, the countless sacrifices that most people don't understand, I just shake my head. Sadly, most people think that doctors make too much money. Consider this: my husband didn't start making a decent salary until he was 36 years old! It took him 10 years total to become an interventional cardiologist (med school, internship, residency, general fellowship and interventional fellowship). If you include undergrad, he spent 14 years learning to save lives.

I don't think the politicians understand what a doctor goes through to specialize. While I applaud the effort to balance things for the primary care provider, I can't ignore that a cardiologist spends an additional seven years training to do what he does. Who would these policy-makers want working on their heart? Who do you want working on yours?

We should all be very, very worried friends. Bad things are coming our way, and I am sick that I helped swing the country in this direction. I trusted Obama to make smart decisions. I hoped that he would cut government waste. Instead he is behaving like previous politicians. He will fund his program on the backs of hard-working physicians who truly deserve to be paid a premium for the intense stress and pressure under which they practice.

My husband stands in a cath lab all day wearing lead, exposing himself to radiation. In his late thirties, his back is already bad, his shoulder is shot, his knees hurt, and he will need to retire early. What will happen to our family?

A Caper of IL 12:41AM December 07, 2009