Shorter course for less tuition

[noncon]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/e...rough-medical-school.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The NY Times chips in too.

 

[Lollygag]

I'm pretty sure somebody already posted a thread on the same article. But from the looks of it, it's definitely not a program for everyone as it will be more difficult and stressful than the traditional 4 years.

 

[HughMyron]

Also it tracks you towards Peds and FM, which not everyone wants to do.

 

[Narmerguy]

Also it tracks you towards Peds and FM, which not everyone wants to do.

Only explicitly true for two out of the three programs, though the third (NYU) shows a preference for students interested in primary care.

The three-year programs at Texas Tech and Mercer are focused on producing doctors who want to go into family medicine, which administrators insist is not because family medicine is easier, but because they are responding to the need for more primary and preventive care.

That focus on only one category of doctors has disturbed some proponents of three-year schools. Dr. Bruce Wright, associate dean of undergraduate medical education at Calgary, said it could create a perception that three-year programs were “medical school lite,” turning out second-class physicians. The trend, he suggested, could ultimately lead to lower standards for family medicine graduates, who are already in a lower-paid, lower-prestige field.

N.Y.U. has decided to open its three-year program to students regardless of what branch of medicine they plan to go into, but Dr. Abramson said it would look for students interested in primary care fields like internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics. Students will have to declare their choice when they apply, because they will be guaranteed residencies in an N.Y.U.-affiliated hospital, as a way of lessening anxiety that other residency programs might be wary of their three-year degrees.

 

[noncon]

"Who Else Is Nervous About This Plan to Shave a Year Off of Medical School?...Furthermore, we've tried this before. As The Times explains, federal funding encourages several experiments to shorten medical school during the 1960s and 1970s."
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/nati...s-about-plan-shave-year-medical-school/60291/

 

[noncon]

Somewhat related
Report Cautions Against Rush to Build Medical Schools
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-e...-cautions-against-rush-build-medical-schools/

And on that topic
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-e...rt-texas-medical-residency-slots-not-keeping/

 

[noncon]

"Here's how it would work for students who want to enter family medicine in three years:

• First year: Curriculum would be the same.

• Summer after first year: Students would no longer get time off and instead would take a single course in family medicine that is normally part of the second year curriculum.

• Second year: Students take the normal curriculum, but add in (throughout the year) a clinical experience in family medicine (normally part of the third year).

• Third year: Students take regular rotations in fields such as internal medicine, pediatrics and psychiatry. In the eight-week rotation that would otherwise be used for family medicine, the students would take rotations in the parts of the fourth year deemed necessary: intensive care, neurology and geriatrics."

From http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-03-25-medical-school-early_N.htm

But does this mean rotations that attract students away from family medicine won't be in the books?

 

[HughMyron]

Another issue is that this harms existing Peds, FMs, etc, because they are already low-prestige, low-pay fields, and now people will say "hurr durr people can do your job with one less year of study."

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Another issue is that this harms existing Peds, FMs, etc, because they are already low-prestige, low-pay fields

Ruh-oh. Did I ever make a career mistake.

 

[HughMyron]

Ruh-oh. Did I ever make a career mistake.

I meant nothing against you, I was talking about the public in general.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

I meant nothing against you, I was talking about the public in general.

The public in general considers pediatrics a low prestige field?