Once I’m in residency, I will become very well acquainted with grant writers and social workers.

It’s still good to know there’s other folks out there with a good head on their shoulders that are working towards a common goal. :)

I’m a third year medical student in the Midwest. I’m aiming to do my residency in Minnesota, either Emergency Med or Family Med because apparently I like doing social work and hate my sanity or something.

I just finished my second family medicine rotation and it’s just so ass-backwards because if we could give them the medication they need, they won’t end up in hospitals/ICUs/long term care facilities/etc. The new medications are incredible drugs and can vastly improve the quality and quantity of life for patients with diseases like diabetes, heart failure, renal failure, and more…if the patients can afford them, which they frequently cannot.

It’s appalling how much we have to alter treatment plans based on Medicare rates. If someone doesn’t have a supplement plan, they probably won’t be able to afford the new medications that are MASSIVE improvements on the old ones. It’s so frustrating to have to try to cobble together a treatment regimen for congestive heart failure or type 2 diabetes without being able to use the new medications because Medicare doesn’t cover enough of the cost for the patient to be able to afford it. It also affects how long a patient can be hospitalized and figuring out the requirements to make sure they qualify for rehab after hospitalization is aneurysm-inducing.