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Picture: Number of Inhabitants Per Doctor in the World

adsoftheworld.com — This picture hangs on the walls of doctor's office waiting rooms in the Netherlands to let Dutch patients know how privileged they are to receive medical care versus other countries in the world.

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  • ivankraszl, on 10/16/2007, -15/+10Here is a direct link to the image: http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/276540-Poste ...
    • airiox, on 10/16/2007, -2/+15That a half a megabyte of bandwidth per hit. The story was properly linked and the site in unobtrusive, its not nice to steal.
      • senatorpjt, on 10/17/2007, -2/+1It didn't work for me, then I noticed that adblock was blocking it (it is blocking http://ads*)
      • subxero37, on 10/19/2007, -0/+6They should have used PNG -- just for fun I tried it and the image was only 100k, under one-fourth of the original image size with no quality loss.

        I think a lot of people forget the JPEG is great for photographs, where lossy compression works well, but for images like this, where there is lots of repetitive data (black pixel, black pixel, black pixel) formats like PNG work wonders. Also, JPEG tends to make text less readable, due to its lossy nature.
  • CreativeGuy, on 10/15/2007, -1/+11staggering numbers, to say the least. Great idea!
    • OsiVert, on 10/22/2007, -1/+9Yeah, some places are scary, but I wonder what the quality is vs. quantity. Some doctors have access to better equipment, training and medicine. I would rather go to a doctor in Japan rather than in Mexico even though the ratio is the same.
    • MacEnvy, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1I was staggered by the very poor doctor:patient ratio in India. What the hell, do they send all of their doctors over here to the US? I mean, there are a LOT of Indian doctors over here. I had several myself, and I've never even lived in an urban area (where immigrants are most prevalent).
  • junkster, on 10/16/2007, -11/+6This doesn't take into account other qualified providers such as NPs and PAs. I think a better measure is needed if it's to be meaningful. MDs aren't the only one's that can provide patient care.

    http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/faq/apn_md_relative ...
    • TubaTechno, on 10/15/2007, -3/+2Wait a minute, people are now basing the QUALITY of medical care by the QUANTITY of doctors?
      • MxM111, on 10/15/2007, -0/+3Well, 50,000:1 quantity is kind of revealing...
  • slashbot, on 10/19/2007, -23/+13The United States has one of the best healthcare systems in the world.

    No waiting months for a simple MRI here.
    • viruz, on 10/19/2007, -11/+14tell that to the single mothers who can't afford medical insurance.
    • Thunderchild329, on 10/19/2007, -7/+13If you have the money/insurance to pay for it.
      • cranium, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3Yeah, cry your eyes out for the poor, then go get your $3 latte. Feel better?
    • ncc74656m, on 10/16/2007, -6/+16Umm, sarcasm, I hope?
    • Parthymon, on 10/19/2007, -12/+15Unless you're poor. Or middle class. I wish people would get their heads out of their asses in this country. Yeah, healthcare is great in the country. If you're rich. It is the same thing everywhere in this country. You can get ANYTHING you want in the US, if you can afford it. I could gold plate my car if I wanted. Having great healthcare is one thing - having it cost an arm and a leg is another. Check out our infant mortality rate sometime. And if you're going off of this map, Cuba's healthcare must be twice as good as ours, right?

      Maybe I'm wrong and we do have one of the best healthcare systems in the world. I wouldn't know, I can't afford it
      • paxil, on 10/15/2007, -6/+11I'm middle class. My whole family is middle class. Everybody I know has health insurance. It's pretty easy to get insurance in this country.
        • slashbot, on 10/15/2007, -5/+4Exactly/ Obviously parthymon is either not telling the whole truth or embellishing the details.

          Thats the world smallest violin, and it is playing just for him
        • 13B1303, on 10/16/2007, -2/+5Hell I just bought my own for ~$40 a month... If you have cable but no health insurance I have no sympathy for you.
      • mstoneburner, on 10/16/2007, -6/+7Get a job with a decent employer. Bingo! You've got health insurance.
      • mike17032, on 10/16/2007, -1/+4Look child, you dont need to be rich to have insurance. I am far from rich, and I have full coverage.
      • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1You could afford it if your paycheck didn't get raped so hard. You obviously don't understand your real costs.
    • slashbot, on 10/16/2007, -3/+14Last I checked people can still go to the emergency room regardless of insurance.

      Whats that? yes. It is used (and abused) all the time.
      • TubaTechno, on 10/16/2007, -1/+12It's against federal law to refuse anyone health care whether they have insurance or not. Most likely, if you cant' pay for the health care, the tax payers pay for it anyway.
    • TubaTechno, on 10/16/2007, -4/+13Define Middle Class? Ambiguous? Good because thats what politicians want.

      I make 63k a year, married, household income about 72k. I can afford insurance for me and my wife, why can't you again?

      Also, you need to clarify the difference between "health coverage" and "health care". America is one of the world's top places for quality health care, yet health coverage still seems to be lacking. The major difference between Republicans and Democrats in this issue of health coverage is HOW to fix it.
      • MrSteamTank, on 10/16/2007, -11/+4United States could try to mimic the Canadian system. Although the Canadian system has faults the main problem is the doctors fleeing to the United States to make more money. If Canada and United States had a semi-combined system one country couldn't leech doctors off the other too much.

        • CorpT, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3Yeah. When you're the last place on earth that pays doctors, where else would they go to?

          Do you understand why Canadian doctors come to America? Because they know they will be compensated for their years of training and skill. I have a lot of problems with the medical industry, but I don't mind paying good doctors for good work. When countries (like Canada) do, the good doctors will leave.
          • MrSteamTank, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Sigh...I'm not insulting the American system in any way.
            http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/04/on_docto ...
            Read this. United States doctors are paid the highest salaries and our similarity in culture and overall proximity worsens the problem.
            Good work is good work but keeping wages really high to leech doctors off of other countries(Canada does this too I admit) is not an honest way to run a medical system.

            Other countries don't have doctor shortages and they pay there doctors peanuts. My half-sister is a doctor in Uruguay and she could barely afford an apartment(she had to study just as long as any western doctor to get her degree) on her salary.

            Uruguay is also fairly capitalistic
            http://www.heritage.org/index/country.cfm?id=Urugu ...
            and they have no doctor shortage. The problem is definitely not the lack of doctor wages. It is something else.

      • TubaTechno, on 10/15/2007, -0/+7I personally don't think the issue is about the number of doctors. I think it's about the outrageous health care costs. Now American could either pay for people's health care, or create a system that encourages increased competition and incentives.
  • Slade605, on 10/16/2007, -4/+3I am bad at Geography, was Iraq sitting at 280:1?
    • WootZoot, on 10/15/2007, -1/+21,500:1
    • zip000, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Wow, you are bad at geography - I think you're looking at Greece. I think Iraq is 2,200:1.
      • Magicmasta, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1yup, 2200:1

        Turkey is 1500:1 Greece is 750:1
      • iFrikkenR, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Er what the hell. they're labelled: Turkey is clearly 750:1(four indicators). Iraq has 1500:1, Iran has 2200:1 (two indicators)

        I don't know where the hell you got Greece from because it's not even listed - not every country is listed. Israel and many others are missing too
    • flazz, on 10/16/2007, -2/+1maybe because they have a ratio of 280 people to 1 doctor -- or -- the figure is wrong.
    • Nonplussed, on 10/16/2007, -0/+3Yep 1,500:1. Notice there are tiny words under the numbers. Those are the names of countries.
  • Comms, on 10/15/2007, -1/+1those inhabitants, and the rest.
  • TheTaoOfBill, on 10/16/2007, -11/+7I never would have expected Russia to have the most doctors to population.

    Soviet Russia joke in 3...2....1...
    • Parthymon, on 10/22/2007, -5/+1In Soviet Russian, YOU scew System!
    • cyberoidx, on 10/15/2007, -8/+1In Soviet Russia you have more daktars thun henywhere in tha warld.
    • MrSteamTank, on 10/16/2007, -4/+14Cuba is actually number 1 in that category. Communism actually working in certain aspects? HERESY!
      • asskey, on 10/16/2007, -2/+8Cuba does two things well. Education and healthcare.
        Just about everything else they do to their citizens is enough to get them to drop all that and board a raft to Florida.
      • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -5/+1No it isn't. The best ratio I saw on the map was 1.2 to 1 in Jamaica. Cuba has 170 patients to every doctor. Russia has 230.
        • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -2/+3NM Just caught on that they are using periods instead of commas to mark thousands.
        • WootZoot, on 10/15/2007, -0/+4jamacia has 1,200. those .'s aren't decimals. they are used to seperate number groups, like we use commas here.
      • CorpT, on 10/17/2007, -1/+31 Doctor with no supplies treating 170 patients is worse than 1 Doctor with proper supplies treating 390 patients. Capitalism actually working? Heresy!
      • xJudahx, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1Cuba is tiny.
    • GameMogul, on 10/16/2007, -1/+4In Soviet Russia, sickness get YOU
    • MxM111, on 10/16/2007, -1/+4In Soviet Russia you treat the doctor (it is partially true BTW)
    • commernie, on 10/16/2007, -1/+2According to that picture, they don't. Cuba does.
    • Goombellaofgoom, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Russia is number two.
  • cheesecake42, on 10/19/2007, -7/+39anybody else notice that cuba has the smallest ratio?
    • slashbot, on 10/16/2007, -29/+2but but but, I thought Cuba has the best healthcare in the world!

      Michael Moore said it, so it must be so!
      • verevi, on 10/16/2007, -4/+35The smallest ratio is a good thing, moron. It actually supports Moore's suggestions.
      • RLCrisp, on 10/16/2007, -0/+8Wow, so...yeah. Other people already said it but you are an absolute idiot. I wish I could revoke your right to attempt making clever/sarcastic comments.
    • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -17/+1No it doesn't. How is 170:1 better than 1.2:1 (Jamaica)?
      • Parthymon, on 10/16/2007, -1/+10Because that's 1,200. Did you not stop to wonder why they added 2 extra decimal places for no reason?
      • joot2112, on 10/16/2007, -1/+14In Europe, the decimal point is used like the comma is used in the U.S.
        • resplence, on 10/16/2007, -3/+4Not Europe, the rest of the world.
          • joot2112, on 10/16/2007, -0/+5Insert foot in mouth. Countries that use a comma include: Australia, Brunei, Botswana, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea (both North and South), Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Zimbabwe. By population, far more people use a comma than a decimal.
        • enginbeering, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1So then when you're given a number like 3.000.002, how do you know if it's 3 million and 2 or 3 thousand and 2 thousandths? Is something else used for the decimal point?
      • noahhoward, on 10/16/2007, -3/+3The thought never crossed my mind, I've been in the US too long. I didn't realise the period substituted for the comma in some places.
      • RLCrisp, on 10/16/2007, -3/+5No matter which way you slice it you just made the stupidest comment possible. So, we have 1.2 inhabitants per 1 doctor in Jamaica by your claims. Essentially, almost everybody in Jamaica is a doctor! Did you actually think about it at all or did you just realize that 1.2 is less than 170?
        • noahhoward, on 10/16/2007, -4/+4Will you ***** off? I have never once in my life seen a comma replaced by a decimal point if I was studying the image instead of just casually looking at it yes maybe I would have thought about it. It's digg it wasn't that ***** important.
          • jono10, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1It's the ONLY place a lot of them can feel superior.
        • spinningobo, on 10/16/2007, -1/+2You lose, Noah.
          Just shrug it off and move on.
    • HonestAbe, on 10/22/2007, -5/+7America is not the only country in the world.
      • Butros, on 10/16/2007, -1/+5You're right. But Digg is an American website. So it's completely understandable to expect periods for decimal points in content submitted here.
    • JDRay, on 10/15/2007, -2/+1Look just to the left. What is that, Honduras, maybe? 1.1:1. That indicates that nearly everyone is a doctor. I'm suspicious.
      • EricAnderton, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1The chart is using the European standard for marking placeholders in numbers: Mentally exchange the periods for commas and the numbers will make a lot more sense.

        (1.100 = One Thousand, One Hundred *not* One and One Tenth)
    • JonnyTrombone, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1Cuba actually has quite a number of doctors- and the greatest Neurosurgery center in at least the western hemisphere, if not the world.

      That isn't to say that they have a lot of MRI or X-Ray machines or other expensive medical equipment in every hospital (like the US, for example), but they do have a lot of doctors.
    • Error601, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3That must be why people are riding old cars converted to boats to get the hell out. Too many MDs.
  • verevi, on 10/16/2007, -12/+7Meh.. Doctors are overrated. As agents of the pharmaceutical industry, they just push pills that cover up the real problems.
    • calinazaret, on 10/15/2007, -0/+5So let's get rid of all the doctors? :/
    • GameMogul, on 10/15/2007, -0/+3Yeah, let's get rid of all or pain-killers... then let's see who has pain.
    • DaFunk, on 10/15/2007, -0/+6Well, next time you break a leg, suffer passing a kidney stone or get an infection, just stay at home. I mean, doctors will just "push pills," getting some ridiculous phantom kick-back from pharmaceutical companies, right? Heck, skip the middle man and just call your local pharmacist.
  • BigTuna99, on 10/16/2007, -12/+5Cuba has 170 inhabitants for each doctor. If you don't believe it, watch Sicko.
    • mstoneburner, on 10/15/2007, -2/+10Because if Cuba claims it has 170 inhabitants per doctor, it must be true, right?
      • raisinbrainMMM, on 10/15/2007, -1/+4I thought it was common knowledge that Cuba has an incredible amount of people working in health care. They send out their doctors to disaster zones in other nations very often. They not only claim it, they do back it up.
        • commernie, on 10/15/2007, -0/+2It is common knowledge, except in the US.
      • DittoMuch, on 10/15/2007, -0/+4Cuba doesn't educate lawyers, they don't educated many people in marketing. You have about the same ratio of brilliant people regardless of where you are in the world. Cuba does have universal education and very quickly good students are placed in areas that the government wants them to follow. As there is always a benefit to more doctors or engineers communist countries tend to focus on them.

        Take a look at an American university and remove 'film studies' then remove general arts then start removing business and law and economic schools. How many students does this free up for math science agriculture and medicine. This is also why you see a very high number through most of the former USSR, students were not given free choice in what to study.
        • CorpT, on 10/15/2007, -1/+2LOL you think the people in film studies could hack it in math or science? Try removing the people in liberal arts and business and move them to manual labor.
    • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -14/+1Jamaica has 1.2 inhabitants per doctor, what is your point.
      • WootZoot, on 10/15/2007, -2/+9I have seen you say this three times in the comments section, and every time I read it, you just sound dumber and dumber.
      • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -9/+1Yeah, dumb or I've simply never seen it done that way. Thanks for your initial help but there's no reason to be an ass about it now.
        • RLCrisp, on 10/15/2007, -0/+7You actually believed that essentially every inhabitant is a doctor in Jamaica. You stated it multiple times. You seriously need to take a math or thinking course....somewhere. If you would have actually thought about it (wow, that is impossible, not EVERYBODY in Jamaica is a doctor), you would have realized that 1200:1 or whatever it was is the only reasonable conclusion because the decimal point was acting as a comma.
        • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -5/+1Or I could have though small population with a high number of doctors. I have only ever seen the decimal point used as a decimal point throughout my education it is obviously not going to readily appear as a comma to me.
        • RLCrisp, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Ok, I know I sound like a dick but you really need to learn to think for yourself. Saying you have never seen that in your education is no excuse. Neither is saying 'I thought small population with a high number of doctors', why would you think anything other than the numbers being presented to you? Plus, you said it yourself, "Jamaica has 1.2 inhabitants per doctor." 1.2 inhabitants per doctor is very close to 1 inhabitant per doctor. Assuming each doctor is an inhabitant that means EVERYONE is a doctor. Since that is impossible, the decimal point was pretty obviously a comma and if you had actually thought about it you would have figured it out. Education is there to teach you how to think, not to cram a bunch of ***** in your head that you are going to forget unless you constantly use it. People don't seem to understand that.
        • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1If I had actually thought about it yes, I probably would have come to assume they were using a decimal as a comma, since I simply glanced at it and didn't bother I didn't think about it. Why are you on a crusade about it?
    • guinnessstout, on 10/15/2007, -4/+1I'd rather have less doctors that are amazing then a ton of them that suck.
    • GameMogul, on 10/15/2007, -4/+2In America YOU have doctor; in Soviet Cuba doctor have YOU
  • ItsMyWii, on 10/22/2007, -3/+8That's why I'm taking Pre-Med. Wish me luck!
    • DaFunk, on 10/22/2007, -1/+6Good luck. If you're doing it for the right reasons, it's still worth it. (Don't listen to all those that will tell you otherwise.)
    • Error601, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Good luck and remember to treat your nurses right.
    • chkmate21, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Good Luck!
  • sum4me, on 10/22/2007, -3/+13that is a great visual. now what i want to see in a similar map is : a) the cost of healthcare per person and b) the average medical malpractice rates per country
    • joot2112, on 10/22/2007, -0/+7I want to see it next to a) infant mortality rates and b) average life span.
  • Taber38, on 10/16/2007, -2/+2Wow awesome, puts things into perspective, i did think there would a lower ratio in the westernized states though.
    • xJudahx, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Doctor's go where the money is most of the time. That's one of the reasons there are very few in Africa. Western countries will pay more, so they leave. They have a similar situation with nurses there as well.
  • DaFunk, on 10/22/2007, -3/+11Those numbers are getting worse everywhere, especially in the US. By 2020, there will be a projected physician shortage of 200,000 doctors. That's for many reasons; capping the amount of doctors graduating from med school as well as increased costs in attending school, decreased prestige and pay, increased job dissatisfaction and lawsuits, and fear of future changes in the health care system. I hate to paint a bleak picture, but this shortage scares me much more than our current health care system "crisis." You can reform all you want, but without enough doctors to staff it, any change is pointless.
    • joebrender, on 10/16/2007, -3/+1Prospective doctors should just go ahead and do it, for sure. They can earn 500K/year easy a couple years out of residency. So there's lawsuits, buy insurance.
      • Andrew7, on 10/15/2007, -0/+0Very few doctors ever make 500K a year.
      • CabesMojo, on 10/15/2007, -0/+0I have a feeling you don't know many doctors...........
      • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1500 k easy? They can't make $1 easy, let alone 500k. Unless you consider med school easy, and if you do, you should get off digg and cure cancer with your gift.
    • blackjack75, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1You could be a good doctor without having a lot of confidence as business man. If you're that type of person in a country where university is basically free you'll become the much needed doctor.
  • liquisoft, on 10/15/2007, -8/+4So Russia seems to have more doctors per person than anywhere else. Very interesting. Either there are only a few doctors and they're killing off patients, or there are just a lot of doctors.

    Oh, and obligatory "In Soviet Russia, something something's YOU!"
    • teadrinker, on 10/15/2007, -1/+1There are a lot of doctors, but people are still in a bad shape. Smoking, bad food, not taking care of yourself, etc.

      Plus a horrible CT scan to person ratio. Plus the survival rate difference between private(you pay the public doctor to do the job well!) and public/free health care is astounding!
    • commernie, on 10/15/2007, -0/+2Actually, Cuba has more doctors than anywhere else.
  • lead2thehead, on 10/22/2007, -1/+12I guess if you get sick in Africa, you're pretty much on your own.
    • mihkeltt, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1.....with 50000 other patients wating behind the door at the hospital, made out of tree leaves, in the jungle, up in the canopy.
  • randomm, on 10/16/2007, -5/+21Damnit! At first I was really confused because I saw that Guatemala had a ratio of 1.100:1. I thought, "What the hell, is everyone a doctor there?" Then I realized it was that weirdo European thing where they use periods instead of commas.
    • pieinthesky, on 10/17/2007, -4/+8No, you're a weirdo.
      • WootZoot, on 10/15/2007, -3/+2ZING!
      • xJudahx, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Or the rest of the world that uses the comma is the norm if you go by the number of people who use it.
    • noahhoward, on 10/15/2007, -4/+1Yeah just realised that too.
      • thevelvetsun, on 10/15/2007, -0/+5LOL took you long enough.
      • sovereign3, on 10/15/2007, -2/+2Ironic you just realized that, but you use the Commonwealth spelling for "realise?"
        • SimonGray, on 10/16/2007, -0/+4How is that ironic? They use commas/dots the same way in the UK. It's the rest of the Europe that's different from the US.
    • GameMogul, on 10/16/2007, -2/+5I know, I thought the same thing at first. I was like... wtf... Africa has the best? That makes ABSOLUTELY no sense. Then I realized all the trailing zeros and saw that it was Dutch thing.

      Crazy Europeans!!! (I kid ;P)
  • clickwir, on 10/15/2007, -1/+6So which one is the Netherlands and why is it so special to them?
    • DittoMuch, on 10/22/2007, -3/+0it is one of the 320:1's in Europe (left of Britain)
      • Magicmasta, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2Ireland is left of britain >< it's right of britain next to Germany.
    • WootZoot, on 10/16/2007, -0/+5The Netherlands is in the middle of Europe. Its ratio is 320:1. Its special to them, and us, because it shows how lucky we are to live in a country that has any form of healthcare at all (not to say it couldn't stant quite a few reforms, but we are still damn lucky)
  • blubberlump, on 10/22/2007, -7/+2I'm moving to Africa
  • guinnessstout, on 10/16/2007, -2/+5Where's Antarctica?
  • PPendleton, on 10/22/2007, -4/+2Where is Israel?
  • Richandler, on 10/22/2007, -3/+8This chart proves that your health care isn't a social issue. It's an educational issue. More doctors = cheaper and better health care. Socializing the system will not solve either of those issues. It's all about education.
    • joebrender, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3That's an excellent point. I'd never thought of that. In the US, Medical school is hugely expensive and I've heard the AMA tightly limits the number of M.D.s per year.
    • DittoMuch, on 10/16/2007, -1/+3Yes as education is the primary source of supply (ignoring migration) its true that this is about education. However is a centralized system that is universally administered you should be able to control your supply in a more fluid manor. The threat of increasing the supply of doctors reducing wages and the threat of insurance and 'changes to health system' are all mitigated in a socialized centralized system.

      I'd like to see the numbers of we remove 'doctors' who are only plastic surgeons or doctors who don't currently practice or see patients. Although socialism might not be the only answer a purely open market driven system might not be either.
  • ecshome, on 10/16/2007, -6/+1Hmm? Who should we attack/bomb/invade next?
    • HonestAbe, on 10/16/2007, -2/+1We must come to the aid of Africans and improve their poor doctor/patient ratio by "liberating" some of the patients.

      The United States of America.
      Spreading freedom... one bomb at a time.
    • onedotseven, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Your mom.

      :)
  • superyounan1, on 10/16/2007, -1/+5cuba is doing well
  • joot2112, on 10/18/2007, -2/+3Anyone else having trouble believing health care is so great in Russia?
    • Hananda, on 10/16/2007, -0/+8A high ratio of doctors to patients says nothing of quality of service. They could require a 6-month training program to become a doctor in Russia for all this chart tells us.
    • DittoMuch, on 10/15/2007, -0/+6I'd expect that they would still have very high doctor and engineer ratios. The Soviet system without a doubt favored creating doctors and engineers (they sure didn't need or want lawyers) so I would expect that they have a high number of doctors but with a more dubious record when it comes to 'practicing' and I'd be curious as to how well the system of checks and balances actually works.
  • Unrefined, on 10/16/2007, -10/+5Africa: The ***** of the World
    • blackjack75, on 10/19/2007, -2/+3Having been the dicks who pounded that ***** for centuries, I'd keep silent.
      • xJudahx, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Which one is he, French, Dutch, or British?
  • Eivo, on 10/16/2007, -5/+3When the hell did the Period replace the Comma in our numbering system?
    • DittoMuch, on 10/16/2007, -1/+5It didn't however the numbering system isn't universal. same as $ isn't universal.

      1,000 = american US
      1 000 = canada
      1.000 = netherlands

      all the same number different ways of writing it.
      • Goombellaofgoom, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Not quite the same thing as with $ and other money symbols. Other places don't use different money symbols to mean the exact same thing. $5, ¥5, and £5 are not interchangeable quantities in any country.
    • blackjack75, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Hm, are the swiss the only ones tou sue the 1'000 notation? Makes alot more sense to me since you can't confuse it with a coma or any sort of decimal.
  • diggydougie, on 10/15/2007, -1/+3I think that they are using periods instead of commas. I'm moving to Guatemala where it's 1.1:1. Everyone's a doctor there!
    • mahdaeng, on 10/16/2007, -0/+4Actually, everyone's a doctor in India.
  • mahdaeng, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Big surprise.
  • seraph582, on 10/16/2007, -3/+1buried as lame - this doesn't take Nurse Practitioners into account, which are better than doctors for 99.9% of whatever will ail you anyway.
  • rcflyr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+7Can I see this map lawyers instead of doctors?
  • quentinp, on 10/16/2007, -1/+1Interesting Canada with our illustrious public health care system has a lot less doctors per person than the US!
  • Stoneleprecon, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1cuba wins ...
    I can almost hear castro shout victory.
    • xJudahx, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Yeah, but they all went to Med school in Cuba or the Carribean!
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Of course, they get put in prison if they try to leave.
  • Jumba990, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Our island isn't even on that map, oh well.
    After pressing some buttons on the calculator I came to the conclusion that we have a 1400:1 ratio..
    That sucks = /
  • kingcam, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Darn US, stealing our good Canadian doctors with your unnecessarily lucrative health-care system. Damn doctors don't think making few hundred tho. is good enough apparently.
    • blackjack75, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1Or maybe they moved to Europe. Actually a ***** of our nurses in Switzerland are Canadian. Don't ask me why. According to the them it's much less harrassing over here.
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1If my first real job is at age 30 after acing 25 years of school straight, I'll demand whatever pay I want.
  • cathepsut, on 10/16/2007, -1/+0Ok, let's all move to Russia...
  • scslmd, on 10/16/2007, -1/+0This map has a dual purpose... the reverse of ratio will be the number of people who can identify the name of that particular country...
  • evvad, on 10/17/2007, -2/+4Life expectancy Canada: 80.34 years. 470:1
    Life expectancy USA: 78 years. 390:1
    Japan: 82.02 years. 500:1

    Doctor to person ratio is not a useful health statistic.

    source: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_lif_exp_at_b ...
    -These numbers may not be perfectly accurate, nor up to date, but they still get the point across.
    • Error601, on 10/17/2007, -1/+1Yep...In ballpark similar environments, it really comes down to the genetic distribution.
    • Andrew7, on 10/17/2007, -0/+3Diet and lifestyle probably have more to do with it than genetics.
    • xJudahx, on 10/17/2007, -0/+2It was a statement about the health care system, not peoples health, although there is a clear correlation.

      And indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats, which one would you rather be?
  • Goobernutz, on 10/17/2007, -8/+1I'd like to see an I.Q. rating next to each DIGG members comment. Oh..wait...there it is, just next to the little red and green boxes.
  • coustoe, on 10/16/2007, -0/+2Someone said being a Doctor isnt lucrative. Ya only if you choose not to specialize, Specialist make up to 500,000 a year or more, while general practitioners make 100k
    • Error601, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1It's also a lot more difficult. It takes several more years after residency and then you're expected to be always up on the latest research and possibly doing your own. A family practitioner is a much less demanding career path for those that actually want some kind of life outside the office.
    • CabesMojo, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1This is a perceived view, it takes a long time even for a lot of specialist to start making that kind of money. My father is a nationally renowned specialist in infectious disease and just last year at 54 was the first time he made over $500k and that was only because he opened a separate infusion business on the side. Also the hours he puts in our insane, which is also while I chose to be an engineer over a doctor. I probably won't ever make as much, but I'll have a lot more time.
    • NonLeftistDiggr, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Yeah, specializing. I like how half of the digg nation thinks people make money by magic. By the time someone is a specialist, let a lone a doctor, they have done more studying hours than they have sleeping. Major sacrifice.
  • KraftDinner101, on 10/16/2007, -1/+2Are the big Red ones 50,000 or 50.000? if they're decimals, why are they the biggest and red?
    • Error601, on 10/15/2007, -0/+1European number format swaps the role of the period and comma for numbers. I run across that a lot on database development.
    • diggydougie, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Math, the universal language.
      Yeah, right.
  • CabesMojo, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1Ok now show us the access to major medical equipment and services, its great if you have a million doctors, but without access to their much needed technology they don't do to much good.
  • MrSlumberjack, on 10/16/2007, -0/+1So I guess all the hundreds of thousands of people living in the South Pacific Islands don't count? Piss.
  • everfalling, on 10/17/2007, -0/+1cuba is like a doctor factory, they export doctors all around the world.
  • Th3Chicken, on 10/17/2007, -0/+1Where`s Dominican Republic ?
  • BECoole, on 10/18/2007, -0/+1So obviously the # of Doctors Quality of healthcare
  • manonfire285, on 10/19/2007, -0/+1966
  • merlinm45, on 01/26/2008, -0/+0You can reform all you want
  •  

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