Sometimes they do, look at the UK strike for an example although the environment here is no where near as toxic.
One of the shortage issues is that it takes 9-12 years to train a specialty physician. For example we need more radiologists today but we can’t fix that until we increase residency spots which won’t impact the job market for 6 years so until then I’m reading more than I want to, even though I’d gladly work less for less total compensation.
Someone has to do the work though and I can’t just say “not me” and leave the studies unreported. There is a human on the other end who needs care.
They can, just not alone. If they were to unionize in sufficient numbers, there would be nothing to do but meet the demands. But “unions are bad” is the prevailing belief in the US, not to mention the huge amount of efforts that companies and the government go through to suppress them.
Many physicians still work in sole proprietorships or partnerships. From an employment perspective they are management, not labor.
Some physicians working as employees of large provider organizations are unionized. The government doesn't do anything to suppress this. Rather the opposite.
One of the shortage issues is that it takes 9-12 years to train a specialty physician. For example we need more radiologists today but we can’t fix that until we increase residency spots which won’t impact the job market for 6 years so until then I’m reading more than I want to, even though I’d gladly work less for less total compensation.
Someone has to do the work though and I can’t just say “not me” and leave the studies unreported. There is a human on the other end who needs care.