What determines class size?

[ASDIC]

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Some schools have 54 spots while others have 250 spots. Does anyone know what determines the actual number of spots in a given first year of medical school?

 

[ASDIC]

any ideas???

😕

 

[UCLAstudent]

I'd imagine that facilities, instructors, and money would all play into how big a class is.

 

[Law2Doc]

Some schools have 54 spots while others have 250 spots. Does anyone know what determines the actual number of spots in a given first year of medical school?

Facilities and instructors, I'm sure. They have a fixed number of teachers and a fixed amount of room (#of seats, # of cadaver tables, etc). I'm sure they pick a target number marginally below what they can possibly accomodate and if through admissions snafus they end up with one or two extra people, they manage.

 

[uclabruin2003]

uh the biggest controller of spots are the LCME and AMA. AMA has a lot of power in terms of supply and demand of doctors. there is a limit of how many MDs out there bc if there was glut in supply, doctors would earn a lot less. facilities and other school money plays a role but not as much as you would think when compared to the influence of these organizations. i also believe that some enrollment and their capacity is limited by legislation.

 

[longhorndoc]

uh the biggest controller of spots are the LCME and AMA. AMA has a lot of power in terms of supply and demand of doctors. there is a limit of how many MDs out there bc if there was glut in supply, doctors would earn a lot less. facilities and other school money plays a role but not as much as you would think when compared to the influence of these organizations. i also believe that some enrollment and their capacity is limited by legislation.

Right on! I believe many schools are sort of told how many spots to fill based on determined need of doctors in your state. I

 

[Law2Doc]

uh the biggest controller of spots are the LCME and AMA. AMA has a lot of power in terms of supply and demand of doctors. there is a limit of how many MDs out there bc if there was glut in supply, doctors would earn a lot less. facilities and other school money plays a role but not as much as you would think when compared to the influence of these organizations. i also believe that some enrollment and their capacity is limited by legislation.

These organizations (AMA LCME) certainly limit the # of doctors by limiting the number of schools which receive accredition, and thereby limit the national total number of spots, but I wasn't aware that they micromanaged the actual number of seats per school. Is that true?
As for legislation, I assume that would likely only apply to state schools, and wouldn't typically specify a number -- it would authorize the state administrative agencies to create schools and spots based on state needs.

 

[uclabruin2003]

i read some where that if a school wants to increase the number of seats at a school by over a certain % they need to petition LCME. so having one or two more people a year at a school wont hurt them... but increasing class size on 20+ seats on a 100 seat school can...perhaps their accreditation can be revoked?

 

[Law2Doc]

i read some where that if a school wants to increase the number of seats at a school by over a certain % they need to petition LCME. so having one or two more people a year at a school wont hurt them... but increasing class size on 20+ seats on a 100 seat school can...perhaps their accreditation can be revoked?

Sounds plausible. Thanks.