The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Bottom Stories of the Day
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Great Moments in Socialized Medicine
Canada has both a glut and a shortage of surgeons, reports Toronto’s Globe and Mail:
With senior surgeons working into retirement and hospitals loath to hire new ones, the next generation is staring at a job pool that has quickly dried up.
One of the areas most acutely affected is orthopedic surgery. Having spent about a decade learning and training for a job, an estimated 30 specialists can’t find one–and as many as 50 might face the same situation after they graduate in July. While 800 surgeons are already employed across the country, there are three full-time positions and four locums, or temporary jobs, advertised on the Canadian Orthopaedic Association job board.
“I applied everywhere,” said orthopedic surgeon Alex Rabinovich, 32, who trained in Hamilton and Dallas and has been on the job hunt for two years. “They [hospital administrators] tell me: ‘We would love to have a foot and ankle surgeon–our wait times are ridiculous. However, we don’t have the resources.’ “
This is a product of Canada’s “single payer” system, in which the government controls all spending on medical services. “I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program,” a young state senator called Barack Obama famously said in 2003. That’s not exactly what Congress imposed on America last year, but it’s close enough that we won’t be surprised to see similar stories in the U.S. before too long–unless, of course, ObamaCare is struck down or repealed.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for thef “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
