All doctors,like all lawyers, are in a union in the sense that they cannot operate without approval from their peers. It's collusion by labor, but with patient outcomes being the supposed concern rather than pay (though obviously it is also precisely why doctors and lawyers get paid so much).
That’s very different from being in a union though. Without the collective bargaining process unions would be unrecognizable to most members. Doctors either negotiate directly with their employer, or take whatever prices Medicare and insurers will give them.
And currently the AMA’s position is that congress should fund more resident slots which is the limiting factor for the number of doctors.
>precisely why doctors and lawyers get paid so much
I don’t know that regulation is precisely why. It surely contributes, but doesn’t explain all of it.
Carpenters are very rarely regulated, HVAC technicians usually are. The training required is similar. The average salary difference is less than $10k a year.
Doctor’s (and lawyer’s) salaries vary drastically by specialty, and number of doctors in a specialty doesn’t explain all or even most of the pay disparity.
There are far fewer pediatric emergency medical physicians than GI docs, but GI docs make way more money. The extra income has nothing to do with restricted supply, it’s a side effect of the way insurers pay (by procedure and GI does way more procedures).
