[heavyset_go]

> isnt that the main reason the salaries are so high?

It's because the NIH limits the amounts of medical residencies in the country, and to become a doctor with a license to practice, you must have completed residency somewhere. The amount of doctors in the US are kept at low numbers because of this.

[lettergram]

I thought it was the AMA, but yeah I know about this and agree. This is the real problem

[heavyset_go]

AMA lobbies but doesn't decide how residencies are funded.

[holden_nelson]

I didn’t know that. Why does the NIH limit the number of residencies?

[sarpeedo]

Medicare funds medical residency (not the NIH and not the AMA). The 1997 balanced budget act passed by congress limited the expansion of new medical residency training.

[0] https://www.npr.org/2018/03/09/592333771/severe-shortage-of-...

[heavyset_go]

Thanks for the correction and source.

[chillacy]

Professional organizations have stronger incentives to increase their compensation through restricting supply instead of decreasing their compensation to help their customers.

The AMA is actually doing a great job at this recently compared to the ABA, where there have been too many lawyers graduating recently for insane salaries except at the top.

[lettergram]

Imagine you were working in an industry where you got to decide the number of people you can let in behind you.

The option almost everyone picks is “no one”. Keep supply of your services low and increasing demand means more money for you.