Growing awareness of an impending physician shortage is partially behind an all-time high in medical school interest, experts say. So is an upcoming generation of college graduates with a strong sense of altruism, a growing population and a cyclical upswing tied to a softer economy.
Allopathic medical schools saw 31,946 first-time applicants for the 2007-08 academic year, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges. It reflects an 8% increase over 2006-07.
The American Assn. of Colleges of
Osteopathic Medicine also saw its applicant pool reach a record level for the 2007-08 academic year, with 11,500 candidates.
Nationally, the allopathic 2007-08 class reached nearly 17,800 students, a 2.3% increase from last year. Osteopathic schools saw the size of first-year classes grow 11.8% to 4,300, as new schools opened in Arizona, New York and Tennessee.
Allopathic applicants posted the highest mean Medical College Admission Test score to date:
28 out of 45 points. That's up from 27.6 a year ago. Grade-point averages were higher, too -- a mean 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. The average was 3.4 last year. Osteopathic applicants for 2007-08 also had stronger scores on those measures. They had a mean
25.3 MCAT and 3.5 GPA, compared with a 24.5 MCAT score and 3.4 grade-point average last year.
