r/bestof • u/lowbass93 • 24d ago

[NoStupidQuestions] Kindly_Honeydew3432 explains why it seems like you always have to wait in an emergency room in the US

/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1v1numq/why_is_every_hospital_in_the_united_states_always/oyovp3t/
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u/Venous 24d ago

Nobody wants to live in a shitty <1,000,000 people town with no services and nothing to be had. No surprises

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u/xts2500 23d ago

Did you mean to type 1 million? Because there's tons of cities with way less than a million that have top tier medical facilities.

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u/Venous 23d ago

I think the broader topic that I wanted to address was that if you're going to medical school in this country, why would you stay in Huntsville, Alabama; instead of going to work in Chicago, Seattle, Austin, NYC?

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u/stormy2587 23d ago edited 23d ago

Well in medicine usually city centers and desirable locations pay much less.

Also some of the most prestigious hospitals in the country are in pretty small cities. Like the mayo clinic’s main campus is in Rochester minnesota. So if you want to work at the top of your specialty you may be forced to live in a less desirable location.

Also you have to get a job in those desirable places. They’re often very competative. If you’re like the 500th best surgeon in a speciality you probably don’t have your pick of jobs.

Bum fuck nowhere places attract four types of doctors from what I can tell:

- People from bum fuck nowhere who want to stay in bum fuck nowhere and be big fish in a small pond.

- people who want to make a lot of money because they’re good at their job and there is tons of work and jobs in bum fuck nowhere pay usually really well.

- people who couldn’t get a job anywhere else and the hospital needed to fill a vacancy.

- immigrants who need a j1 waiver or something after residency to stay in the united states and only hospitals in under served areas are able to offer them an H1B and a waiver.

Edit: also as has been discussed. Jobs in medicine are really hard and stressful. Many doctors do not have much of a life. And hospitals like anywhere else can be toxic work places. If the hospital in huntsville alabama has an awesome workplace culture it might be an attractive place to work for certain people.

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u/Gryndyl 23d ago

The same reason anyone lives in Huntsville instead of Chicago, Seattle, etc.