The government should fund scholarships and loan repayment programs for students going into the heath care workforce. By funding scholarships and loan repayment programs, the number of primary care physicians, nurses, physician assistants, mental health providers, and dentists will increase in the areas of the country that need them most. With a comprehensive approach focusing on retention and enhanced educational opportunities, this combats the critical nursing shortage. And through new incentives and recruitment, this proposal would increase the supply of public health professionals so that the United States is prepared for health emergencies. This proposal would require an increase in spending towards funds for these students while those paying for school would experience a decrease in their personal spending. Imagine how much differently people would view going into the health field if they knew they could receive financial assistance.
Some may feel that spending money to help pay for the cost of schooling is not as important as other areas of health care. If we don’t fix our shortages and find ways to increase the number of health providers we won’t even be able to provide basic care for those people who need it. The more expensive schooling is the fewer people there will be who are willing to pay the high costs and become educated in the medical field. By offering help with the costs more people will have the opportunity to become a public health professional.
Because doctors, nurses, and other health care providers are the backbone of the health care system, we need to make more of an effort to reverse the shortages and maintain an appropriate number of people in our workforce. Could you imagine what would happen if these shortages became more common? Lets act now and prevent the worst from happening.
If you would like to read more about the shortages of health care providers and the effects it has on people I encourage you to view this website:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs302/en/index.html
Sources in APA:
Putting Americans In Control Of Their Healthcare. Retrieved February 26, 2010, from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/proposal/titlev/increasing-supply
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media/factsheets/nursingshortage.htm
http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/publichealth/default.htm
I think that the cost of schooling also really deters people from going into the medical field. I know coming out of high school I or even some friends did not consider going to college for medicine knowing the cost. If assistance were offered I think it would make a change in that people will go on to med school because they are passionate about it knowing that they will have help in the long run.
ReplyDeleteAs a student with the goal becoming a Physician Assistant, I couldn't agree more with this proposal. It is difficult to find the funds to pay for undergraduate degree and just the idea of trying to pay for PA school makes me ill. Even though the cost may be a discouraging factor, I understand that it is worth it the long run-especially when looking at the average salaries of health care professionals over other careers. I do believe that the government should create more programs to help college students, however I do not believe that students will be turned away without this assistance. As beneficial as it would be, I would rather see the government invest more money into secondary education instead.
ReplyDeleteYour quote that states "If we don’t fix our shortages and find ways to increase the number of health providers we won’t even be able to provide basic care for those people who need it" is entirely true. I think the more primary care providers we have the more opportunity U.S. Citizens will have to get needed care. One important thing to focus on however, while we are educating more primary care providers is that we need a place to put them and they also need to want to be in certain locations (ie rural vs urban).
ReplyDeleteAs a student who pays out of state tuition, I would greatly benefit from health education scholarships and financial help. When realizing the outlandish amounts of money spent to get an education in a health profession, it seems ridiculous. I agree that if more financial help was offered to prospective students, there would be an increase in health professionals.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great proposal, this proposal gives kids who may not be financially stable a chance to go into the health field. Any type of degree is expensive, but when you look at all the years of schooling it takes to become a professional member of the health system, it's outrageous how much these students pay now days.
ReplyDeleteObviously I agree and can relate that is a struggle to pay for schooling, but is it really realistic to offer scholarships and loan repayment programs for all students going into the health care field? How are you suggesting these funds be dispersed and where would the funds be coming from? How would these programs be monitored and regulated?
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