Educational programs in US medical schools, 1993-1994

Abstract

From the data on faculty, students, and curriculum, is it possible to identify any responses to actual or anticipated health system changes? While one could foresee medical school downsizing in response to a potentially more competitive environment in which income from faculty practice would be reduced, what has occurred, on average, is steady growth in the number of faculty members across departments, with a large increase in the past year. However, expansion is not consistent across states. Between 1992-1993 and 1993-1994, the number of full-time faculty members decreased 1.5% in California medical schools, increased 3% in Minnesota medical schools, increased 6% in North Carolina medical schools, and increased 10% in New York and Pennsylvania medical schools. These differences may reflect the fiscal situation at the state level as well as differences in the practice environment in different areas. For example, managed care has not had a major effect in many markets. It will be important to monitor trends in faculty at both the national and regional levels to understand the full impact of health system changes. There is considerable diversity among US medical schools: in goals, in student profiles, and in curriculum structure. A number of schools have goals or objectives that contain a reference to the training of primary care physicians. The majority of these are public institutions, but a number of private schools have chosen to address the issue as well. Many schools, both public and private, are under external scrutiny related to the performance and specialty and practice location choices of their graduates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)