City preference: Albuquerque, NM v. El Paso, TX v. Tucson, AZ
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The problem with the shortage is faced by newcomers to the state, as I noted in the first sentence of my post. Once you have a doctor here, assuming they don't stop practicing, retire, or move away, you should not have much trouble getting future appointments.
I'm a relative newcomer and I have the best primary care doctor I've had in probably 40 years. I buried two and left one in the dust when I moved here and this one seems much better. He listens and offers advice based on what he hears and test results and follows up on how things are progressing. What a novel idea...and I can get in when I need to.
Specialists are another thing -- you do have to wait for an appointment but that was true elsewhere, before I moved here as well. However, I refuse to go back to a certain orthopedic specialist...he was awful. Otherwise, it takes weeks to get an appointment for most specialists. Once you get in they seem to be pretty good...with one exception. Lab or imaging/x-ray seems like no wait at all. Eye doctors or ophthalmologists seem to have about the same wait if you need a specialist -- and if you go to a large practice it is like musical chairs as to who you will see.
In a couple instances I know the wait is because the specialists have a circuit in outlying communities...in Grants or Socorro or Alamogordo or someplace else on certain days. We only have 2 million people in the entire state and smaller outlying communities can't support full-time professionals so they have to share.
You don't have to believe me. No other city in the whole world offers what ABQ does to it senior citizens. I know this because I spent years researching it: every major city in The US and in every developed country in the world. ABQ is the best -- by far.
Whst exactly does ABQ offer it's senior citizens vs other locations?. I know I'm not all that impressed with what Florida offers us. Fla may have once been the place to retire, but those days are evidently over. Way to many serious problems here, overpopulated and expensive on some levels. Not much of anything for seniors in regards to senior servics or social services. After this hurcanne I do not want to be in this environment thru future ones. The ignorance I saw was a big wakeup call for me to get the hell out. At this point in my life I need a more stable caring environment. I don't know if ABQ can provide that, but It sounds like it has for you.
[quote=Westbound and Down;48456962]There is a very real doctor shortage in ABQ. It can be hard to get a first visit with a doctor here; we have lived here 3 years, and it took me a year to get an initial appointment with a dermatologist. And for other specialties, increasingly you can only get appointments with NPs or PAs - my wife sees an NP for gynecology because there were no MDs available. And we have experienced high turnover in our doctors here - for primary care, I am on my 3rd doctor - the first two i had moved away, one of them before I ever got in for my initial visit. My wife has gone through 3 different primary care doctors, too, and for a year she had to see a PA for general stuff. Between visits, you never know if the last doc you saw is still around for your next visit.
Even though ABQ has UNM medical school and a full slate of residency programs, in large numbers graduates of these programs leave ABQ when their training is up, heading for the "greener grass" in Colorado, Texas, AZ, and beyond. For many newly minted docs who are in their late 20s and 30s, ABQ is undesirable as a place to live, especially to raise kids, poor schools, crime issues. And NM is regarded, in surveys of physicians and objective measures, as one of the least desirable states to practice medicine due to lower than average compensation and one of the most punitive medical boards in the country, along with higher rates of malpractice suits and awards.[/QUOTE
This does not sound good. How could the area be listed as best area to grow old, with such a medical problem. Or are things improving?
I think as far as being cosmopolitan, Tucson is the way to go, since it’s got nearby Phoenix to draw in its luxurious desert feel. Although, outside of downtown and it’s college campus, Tucson isn’t all that interesting, lacking local eateries, coffee shops, and shops. It’s similar to ABQ in that they both have one primary shopping destination, La Encantada in Tucson, and Uptown in ABQ, and outside of those districts, there’s really no fashion trend or really outstanding culture. But when you explore ABQ, you’ll see districts like Old Town, Corrales, and Nob Hill, and really start to appreciate the semi-urban community that it is.
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