Medical School Applications Continue Declining
The September 9th USA Today had a provocative article noting that United States medical school applications have declined once again, for the fifth consecutive year. The article is based on a recent publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association by AMA staffers who ascribe the steady decline to "a lot of concern about the status of medicine, the lack of autonomy, regulation, and litigation".
According to the president of the American Medical Student Association "Long hours, increasing paperwork, and insurance costs are driving students away from the more demanding general surgery and obstetrics specialities...". He goes on to note, "Tuition costs remain a concern, with the average debt for medical students nearing $100,000." For more information in a related AP release, go to http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/2001-09-04-medical-school.htm.
Applicants for P&O slots have also been declining in recent years, for similar reasons. In my view, these trends are another of the unintended negative consequences of our national experiment with Managed Care restrictions. When insurance company employees are authorized to second-guess and overrule the treating physician's decisions, as they currently are in the US, it should be no surprise that potential new recruits have second thoughts about entering health care occupations. Can you blame them?
By the way, law school applications are up nearly 20% with some schools reporting 10 applicants for every available seat, and graduate school applications in general continue to increase. There are more details are at http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-07-23-grad-school_x.htm.
