A HUGE announcement came out of The NYU School of Medicine (NYUSOM) today.

Ground-breaking, really.

NYUSOM, the #3 ranked Medical School (U.S. News & World Report 2019 Best Medical School Rankings)

just announced they will be…

TUITION FREE!

 

Why isn’t every medical school doing this?

 

Because the last time I checked,

 

WE NEED DOCTORS

Did you know that there’s a shortage of doctors on this planet?  How about in this country?  In your state?  Your city?  Your community?

 

The general population is increasing while the number of young adults moving into the field of medicine is decidedly NOT.  

 

The number of years tirelessly training to become a doctor, the skyrocketing cost of medical school combined with vastly lower financial compensation and unmanageable insurance rates is de-incentivizing our future carers of LIFE.  

 

Can you blame them?  Because let’s be real.  We all need to eat.  We all have bills to pay, families to care for.  We have causes we want to support.  Maybe go on vacation once in a while.

 

What do we do when all the would-have-been-if-only doctors get sucked away by more lucrative professions (I’m looking at you, Wall Street)?

 

NOW LET’S GET HONEST

Our population is varied in terms of its make-up: ethnic, religious, socio-economic…  We need doctors who represent our patient population.  And how exactly can that happen when so few have the means or ability to pay for medical school tuition plus all the extras?  How are we supporting diversity (in ALL it’s forms) if we make the field of medicine nearly impossible to afford in the first place?  

 

You know what happens?  Brain Drain.   

 

We don’t just need doctors.  We need THE BEST doctors.  And the best is not the dominion of one particular group.  

Diversity + Science = INNOVATION

 

I’m a doctor’s wife.  You may think I’m biased.  But trust me when I say I know what it’s like to live on both sides of the fence.  I’ve watched as Rafael somehow manufactures extra hours to care for a patient or to help drive positive change in medical education.  I see how little insurance is willing to pay for a patient who requires extensive treatment and time with his/her specialists.

 

I personally know the frustration of being shuffled from specialist to specialist.  I know what it’s like to spend two hours in a stuffy, cramped waiting room full of other annoyed people.  I know what it’s like to be told that my preferred doctor can’t see me until next year.  

But I also know what it’s like to be touched by CANCER.  And INFERTILITY.

 

And I know that without the extraordinary care of the medical community, my husband, the man who has worked tirelessly for years to help make this dream of free medical school a REALITY, would have died.  

 

And he may be too humble to say it, but I will.

 

Rafael Rivera has spent decades at NYUSOM working for the greater good of HUMANITY.  They are lucky to have him.  I am lucky to have him.  Our 3 girls are lucky to have him.  And trust me, the world is lucky to have people like him.  

 

So let’s stop de-incentivizing our youth by in-debting them up to their eyeballs and instead support, nurture, and reward those whose intelligence and altruism we need more than ever!

 

The next time you see your doctor, even if you waited in that stuffy, cramped room with all those other annoyed people for 2 hours, take a deep breath and THANK him/her for choosing a life path that SERVES and helps SUSTAIN humanity.

 

These amazing people are (and will be) working their asses off to care for us.

 

The least we can do is pay for their education, don’t you think?

 

With love,

Daria Meredith Rivera

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