Looking at the profiles of primary care physicians accepting new patients in major medical groups in the area, it looks like women with MDs from non-US (non-Caribbean) medical schools are the most common.
The practices in my area seem to be attracting first gen women (daughters of immigrants but born and educated in the US) but of course- no guarantees that this pattern will continue.
It depends. The shortage in primary care is in rural areas. There are programs such that you can get all med loans repayed by working 2-4 years in underserved areas. As someone who is in primary care (private so I make more than hospitalists), many of my peers did it. As I already was married in my last year of med school, and was trying to match where the husband was so we could start a family, we chose to keep the full loans and paid about 300k back starting in residency in the early 00s. They were not terribly hard to get done in under 13 years, but we are great at budgeting. We certainly had many friends in non-medical fields who outearned us at during that decade or more. Oddly enough they plateaued while we were still rising through the ranks to partner/senior doc, and we out earn most of them now even as two primary care docs. People pick medicine because they want it, not for the salary, and within medicine primary care (adult or peds) is a calling, it truly is. I do hope the economics of it do not worsen further for the next generation of primary care. So far we have had 5+ good candidates from US med school and residency for every new spot we have each hired in the past 5 years.
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Interesting. Not so in our area at all. Though yes, 80% female. That has been true for 15years or more. Primary care does allow part-time(30-38hrs a week vs 50ish), though there are part-time doctor dads out there too, and there are subspecialties that allow part time. We know a few part-timers in emergency med, endocrine, plastic surgery, obgyn.
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That program [NHSC] now requires a 5 years of service contract and only forgives (not repays) federal loans. It can’t be used for private loans. (And since the BBB has eliminated Grad Plus loans and capped federal students loan for medical students at $200K, most med students going forward will have significant private loans.)
Beside primary care, there are now programs for maternal healthcare providers (OB/GYNs and CNMs) in areas where there are maternity care deserts (which includes 40% of all US counties)
However, the funding for NHSC has not been approved beyond the end of 2025 AND the current 2025 funding has been cut by $950M so that number of funded positions available has been reduced.
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They might not compete with those earning Google-level salaries, but they’re still very well compensated. You’re absolutely right—skills, abilities, and personal choices all influence income. If you’re a doctor who prefers to avoid being on call or chooses to work part-time, you can expect to earn less.
How to Compare Physician Compensation in Family Medicine | AAFP .
I posted before about Stellantis (Chrysler/Dodge/Ram/Jeep) - who is announcing huge hiring.
Any engineering students out there - with interest in automotive or even if not?
I might be checking their website on occasion for roles. No doubt in addition to engineering, they’ll have other roles like purchasing/supply chain.
"Stellantis on Oct. 14 said it plans to spend $13 billion during the next four years to increase its U.S. manufacturing output by 50 percent.
The investment, billed as the largest in the 100-year history of the company founded as Chrysler Corp., will support five vehicles, a new engine and the addition of more than 5,000 manufacturing jobs in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana."
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They just announced that the Jeep Compass that was previously planned to be made at the assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario will instead be moved to the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.
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My kid works for a federal contractor and just survived the 4th round of layoffs for the year. They’ve now lost 1/3 of their former 10K employees this year.
He did say they are still hiring a few new graduates but not as many
I am so glad he didn’t tell me this round was coming. I hate this for him
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Mostly factory jobs and nothing much good nearby. Rockford bad. Beloit not good. Dekalb a little better. Mostly farms and Chicago exurbs.
How important do you all think it is to have a cover letter, if you are applying to a job posting that allows for option upload of cover letter? My S22, applying for engineering jobs for a post-grad job next summer, hasn’t been uploading cover letters, but maybe he should?
don’t think they matter much. in fact i don’t think S22 submitted any cover letter ever.
Interesting read - our kids are entering a work force that is very different from the one we did.
“Ian Shapiro, professor of political science at Yale and author of the book The Wolf at the Door: The Menace of Economic Insecurity and How to Fight It, believes that there is a far more important factor at play than the unemployment rate. “What is high, and has remained high for a long time,” he says to me, “is job insecurity.” A young person today, he notes, will change jobs between 12 and 15 times in their life. Shapiro defines job insecurity as a lack of knowing you can stay and flourish in your existing place of employment. There is little stability to be had in the America of the past decade-plus. Have a job and all is good, until you lose it, and with it health care and other kinds of security.”
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Regarding cover letters - they can’t hurt and they may help. I would encourage them. It shows at least some thought was put into the application versus an automated EasyApply.
From the article above:
“…Alexandra is wading through her own tall pile of applications but from the other side of the desk. She is hiring for two open midlevel roles at a national nonprofit organization. Since the postings went up on the applicant tracking service her company uses to manage its recruitment, each one has garnered applications in the high hundreds. Forty percent of these are incomplete: missing either the cover letters, the requested writing samples, or the extra deliverable that the posting specifically asked for.
Alexandra has felt jarred by the collapse of formalities that she was taught were essential. Few, if any, candidates send thank-you notes after interviews.”
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I think many younger people have decided they only want to marry someone who have good career opportunities. People may think this is crass but 2 high income earners build wealth and they also help hedge their risk of potential job layoffs and financial insecurity.
Many top 2-5% net worth families are able to build their wealth even if theyre not C suite executives.
For some it may matter. If there was a spot, my kid uploaded but he changed like 3 words - company name, something else, something else.
If you’re doing volume, you can spend weeks trying to personalize to duties, etc. On the flipside, some say you can bring out strengths related to the job.
My guess is they’re not read. In the end, if you’re applying, obviously you’re applying for that job and your resume will or won’t sell you for it.
But others may disagree.
Summary - my kids did where asked but they were generic with the position and company name changed in the first paragraph (I’m applying for X role at Y company) and the company name in the last (like I’m looking forward to joining Y Company this summer, etc.
Good luck whatever he decides.
My daughter’s career center said to include cover letters. H likes to see them too when he’s hiring.
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I read cover letters. They are very revealing. It is understandable that once in a while someone sends their Bank of America cover letter to Wells Fargo. But some errors seem to show that the applicant does not have communication skills commensurate with the role they are applying for. And writing “I have always wanted to live in Paris” when the role they are applying for is in Dayton Ohio gives a nice chuckle for the team!
Proofread!!!
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Cover letters are kind of like the “optional” college app essay 
I always recommend adding one if there is an opportunity to submit it. However, if you submit one, it can’t be generic, that’s a big turnoff to hiring managers. It has to be customized to the particular job and company. Yes, this is more work for the applicant but it’s also an opportunity to stand out from the masses.
I recently heard that in the age of apps such as lazyapply cover letters might be becoming more important again. In the sea of AI created and submitted applications, which look and read alike, a well written cover letter can set the applicant apart.
There is no downside in submitting one (apart from the time spent creating it). The worst that can happen is that they don’t read it, then you are no worse off.
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I have heard of people using AI for this too…
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