New Medical Schools Opening in the US
Today the New York Times told me that the US is planning on opening some new medical schools. In fact, they're planning on increasing the number of US medical schools by 18% over the next few years. Whoa!
The age-old discussion of whether MORE doctors is really the answer is touched upon in this article. I never went to medical school (obviously!), so I had no idea that folks could apply to 30 medical schools and receive rejections from 28 of them! More schools seems like a great idea to me, and probably to the students paying the admission fees to 30 medical schools knowing full well that they will receive mostly rejection.
The skeptics of curing the workforce issue by simply minting more doctors say that even if more doctors are accepted and study, they will most likely not go into practice in places where they're needed most - like primary care doctors in rural areas. Alas! They are probably right, too. Currently, primary care and family medicine have taken huge hits in their enrollment because of less than stellar reimbursements from insurance companies. Specialties are really where the money is at, and when you're looking at all the debt you incur becoming a doctor... well, honestly, I'd most likely go where I was most likely to make dough to pay off my education.
The article touches on a lot of different issues, of which I won't repost here since I'm going to be busy looking at all the new medical schools in Pennsylvania and rethinking my career. 
