Politics
Out of context: Reply #8617
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- TheBlueOne0
Well, speaking from direct experience with Japan, as my wife has practiced both there and here in the US, there are some serious caveats. Certainly primary care in Japan is better, and much of the better longevity can be attributed to social/cultural conditions and a better diet overall (although that is changing..thanks McDonalds!)..however, from the doctors point of view practicing in Japan is quite difficult. They work much, much harder there than here, longer hours, more intense patient management, less pay, more scut work - even for fellows and attending physicians.
On top of that, malpractice isn't just a civil matter there initially, but the accusation brings immediate criminal charges, and doctors can find themselves in deep legal trouble very quickly.
Therefore, medicine as a career choice in Japan has lost a lot of luster, and the new doctors are avoiding the most riskiest fields - surgery, OBGYN, etc. You wouldn't believe the waiting period there for new mothers to see an OBGYN...it's insane. Some expectant mothers only get to see them for the first time in the 3rd trimester it's so backed up bc there are so few in that field. Lots of them go into pediatrics and geriatrics, or ID (infectious disease)...you don't get the emergency room, critical care, invasive cardiology, etc...which oddly enough are fields where America does have some of the best doctors in (thanks to our diet, drug use and societal penchant for violence mostly).
But the problems stem more from the lower pay scales and the inherent criminal risks of malpractice and not bc the system is "nationalized healthcare". Japan also has top notch medical technology and leads the way in cutting edge techniques in some areas.
But there is a deeper respect for doctors overall in that culture than in the US. Patients tend to give monetary gifts to their doctors after successful treatments, so that goes a long way to augment the lower pay scales.
It's a mixed bag...overall though the general medical consensus around the world though is that better primary care leads to healthier populations overall, and this is the one thing nationalized medicine does excel at and perform better than private systems.