What are some interesting careers in health care?

I've heard rumors of doctors who are quitting the profession because they are opposed to the newest health care legislation.  Are these real instances, or are these primarily words in the service of politics?  If they are real, what are some examples of careers specific doctors will pursue instead?

• This is not a leading question.  I consider myself poorly informed about health care policy, and I would like to know more.

• Answer:

  Before getting any deeper, keep in mind that medical workforce issues are classic long-term problems:  training a physician takes more than a decade between college, medical school and residency, so we plan now for the workforce we think we'll need in 10+ years.  I'm sure you can imagine how well that generally works out. "Quitting the profession" is probably a misnomer, but it's not entirely off the mark from the health policy perspective.  While I'm not sure how significant this type of movement really is, what you're really hearing is the threat to stop practicing medicine.  The vast majority of medical practices in the U.S. are small offices with a handful of doctors at most.  They're small businesses in an inherently high-risk profession - ask your doctor about his professional liability insurance sometime and you're in for a real treat!  So, in the wake of the changes wrought by the Affordable Care Act (disparagingly referred to at times as "Obamacare"), some doctors are threatening to stop their practice and assume other roles in the medical system, whether that's performing medical research, taking on managerial duties, consulting to insurance companies, or otherwise applying their practical, science-based training. Assuming that doctors are going through with this, from the health policy perspective, it's a problem on several fronts: First off, we have an aging population that demands more and better health care services, so we need more and better health care professionals.  Losing practicing doctors doesn't help matters. Second, we need doctors to assume a greater role in care management and assist their patients with navigating the increasingly complex and fragmented health care system.  But most doctors know that the money to be had is in the specialties, not in becoming a family physician or general practitioner.  Since specialists' time is relatively expensive, asking them to coordinate care is less efficient. Finally, to sustain our health care infrastructure, we need bright college students to continue taking the hard sciences, enrolling in medical school and placing into residencies.  If students start deciding that $200,000 in student loans and years of hard work in residency aren't worth it to them emotionally and financially, we'll all suffer lower-quality care. In my opinion, the third bullet is most compelling, but reasonable people can disagree.  There's no doubt in my mind that some of this is political posturing, but I'm willing to bet that some of it is real, too.  Given those political realities, the broader question we should be asking is how we can shape our medical workforce to meet our future needs.  But as Alton Brown would say, that's...another show!