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Friday, July 21, 2000
U.S. Medical Schools Should Raise Enrollments to Fill
Residencies, Physician Argues
By KATHERINE S. MANGAN
Medical schools in the United States aren't producing nearly
enough graduates to fill entry-level residencies, and should
consider increasing their enrollments, a physician argues in
this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
For the past two decades, medical schools have graduated about
16,000 aspiring doctors a year. That's 28 percent short of the
22,320 entry-level residencies filled by new physicians last
year.
Graduates of foreign medical schools filled 25 percent of the
new residencies. The remaining 3 percent were filled with
graduates of osteopathic schools, which emphasize such
nontraditional techniques as manually manipulating the body to
fight disease.
The author of the New England Journal article, Fitzhugh
Mullan, is a former director of the Bureau of Health
Professions. He thinks it's time the United States reduced its
reliance on foreign-trained medical graduates and produced
more of its own.
"Teaching hospitals have hired thousands of graduates of
medical schools elsewhere in the world, despite the large
numbers of competent young people unable to obtain a medical
education in this country," writes Dr. Mullan, who now writes
for the journal Health Affairs.
The president of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Jordan J. Cohen, calls the idea "intriguing," but impractical.
The reason? Medical schools are struggling financially
already, and accepting more students would only exacerbate
their problems, he says.
"The idea of increasing class sizes at a time when resources
are severely constrained is very troubling," he adds.
_________________________________________________________________
Chronicle subscribers can read this story on the Web at this address: http://chronicle.com/daily/2000/07/2000072101n.htm
If you would like to have complete access to The Chronicle's Web
site, a special subscription offer can be found at:
http://chronicle.com/4free
Use the code D00CM when ordering.
U.S. Medical Schools Should Raise Enrollments to Fill
Residencies, Physician Argues
By KATHERINE S. MANGAN
Medical schools in the United States aren't producing nearly
enough graduates to fill entry-level residencies, and should
consider increasing their enrollments, a physician argues in
this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
For the past two decades, medical schools have graduated about
16,000 aspiring doctors a year. That's 28 percent short of the
22,320 entry-level residencies filled by new physicians last
year.
Graduates of foreign medical schools filled 25 percent of the
new residencies. The remaining 3 percent were filled with
graduates of osteopathic schools, which emphasize such
nontraditional techniques as manually manipulating the body to
fight disease.
The author of the New England Journal article, Fitzhugh
Mullan, is a former director of the Bureau of Health
Professions. He thinks it's time the United States reduced its
reliance on foreign-trained medical graduates and produced
more of its own.
"Teaching hospitals have hired thousands of graduates of
medical schools elsewhere in the world, despite the large
numbers of competent young people unable to obtain a medical
education in this country," writes Dr. Mullan, who now writes
for the journal Health Affairs.
The president of the Association of American Medical Colleges,
Jordan J. Cohen, calls the idea "intriguing," but impractical.
The reason? Medical schools are struggling financially
already, and accepting more students would only exacerbate
their problems, he says.
"The idea of increasing class sizes at a time when resources
are severely constrained is very troubling," he adds.
_________________________________________________________________
Chronicle subscribers can read this story on the Web at this address: http://chronicle.com/daily/2000/07/2000072101n.htm
If you would like to have complete access to The Chronicle's Web
site, a special subscription offer can be found at:
http://chronicle.com/4free
Use the code D00CM when ordering.