Medicine changes

http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-health-law-finally-gets-124027369.html People fearing Obamacare. With a limited amount of money, you cannot cover all and expect the cost to not increase - unless the benefits for the currently insured drop back to even out the pool. I have seen/predicted this for some time. A colleague told me some CCF docs got a form letter telling them 1) your salary is cut 3% and 2) you will be working more hours/shifts. Insult meet injury. Scary issues for all. Physician salaries will certainly fall with all the changes going about. The European system is coming. Docs will be competing to care for well insured patients (20% of populus in Germany), and still expected to care for those on the public plan with poor (i.e., break even) reimbursement. I still enjoy what I do - working with patients and operating, but the system becomes more difficult all the time. Will docs retire or switch career? Likely some, but unclear. Take me as an example - what could I feasibly do outside of medicine? Teach HS science? Maybe. I think docs are more likely to keep practicing medicine, albeit with less satisfaction. The replacement of these docs will be the problem - the bright students of today will see the problems in medicine and opt for another career track. Watch for the pysician shortages to really become apparent 10y from now.