title: The physician workforce: a medical school dilemma.
abstract: Richard Cooper has advanced a projection of a sizable deficit in physicians in the United States, requiring the training of as many as 10,000 additional physicians annually by the year 2025. He questions the ability of U.S. medical schools to "fill the gap." This challenge presents another important dilemma for medical education. Could the applicant pool be enlarged sufficiently to increase qualified applicants? Would medical schools be able to accommodate this increase in students? The impact of these increases could be an ultimate decrease in the quality of health care and the production of physicians who are not current with research findings, particularly in the area of genetics.
authors.affiliation: American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D005826:Genetics, Medical / Q000193:education; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians / Q000592:standards / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States