Though significant restrictions on supply do exist, the problem does not seem to be nearly as bad in Australia as in the USA [1]. In Australia there's ~15 medical graduates per 100k vs ~8 in USA.
The doctors in Australia are still definitely overworked though. A decent number of the people I went to school with became doctors in Australia, and though we work roughly the same number of hours (~60-70hrs/week), my work in the software industry is like a stroll in the park.
It was remarkable to hear my male friends who became doctors admitting that they had broken down crying in meetings with their boss because of workplace stress and exhaustion.
there's more than 12 times the number of people in the US. Yes i understand this is "per 100k", but this still kind of reads like "adding lanes to highways does not reduce traffic," and that means that there is some other issue. If you have more doctors, more people will go to the doctor. This is good, more people should go to the doctor, because early and preventative care reduces the overall cost burden on the system.
And i don't want to put this in its own comment or even continue reading the defense of doctors (as they stand now): Women get shafted so hard by the medical community. People with mental health issues get screwed by the medical system. Both get their problems written off for non-medical reasons. There are bad practitioners just like there are bad developers and bad general contractors and bad bridge builders and bad pilots. The whole system is not very good and i don't see, necessarily, how merely adding more medical degree holding people to the mix will improve things. There isn't enough patient advocacy, there's too much friction with medical insurance (in the US).
The doctors in Australia are still definitely overworked though. A decent number of the people I went to school with became doctors in Australia, and though we work roughly the same number of hours (~60-70hrs/week), my work in the software industry is like a stroll in the park.
It was remarkable to hear my male friends who became doctors admitting that they had broken down crying in meetings with their boss because of workplace stress and exhaustion.
1. https://www.ama.com.au/ama-rounds/13-may-2022/articles/more-...