"No matter how successful we are in attracting idealistic, properly motivated students to medicine now or in the future," said Dr. Cohen, "we have little hope of delivering the same number of idealistic, properly motivated doctors to society unless we can close the gap between rhetoric and reality."
"So, what's the bottom line concern here, and what does it have to do with us
in
academic medicine? Obviously, if medicine ceases to be attractive to the best,
the
brightest, and the most idealistic and public-spirited of our young people, we
have a
lot to worry about. Not just as medical educators but as future patients."
"My concern is not so much about today. We are still getting many fantastic
students
of just the kind we want. I'm sure we'd all like to get even more, but what if
my
supposition is correct? What if many prospective applicants are rejecting
medicine for
reasons we have never seen before - because they perceive future doctors, not as
enjoying a fulfilling career, but as enduring a lot of adversity? If true, we
are
ill-advised in the extreme to remain complacent about our continuing ability to
pick and
choose among a surfeit of wonderful applicants."
Complete text online here http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2001/011104a.htm
AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., opened his address to the 112th AAMC Annual Meeting by contrasting heroic images of the health care professionals who lent their skills to the rescue efforts that aided the many victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with recent media-driven critiques of the medical profession that have tarnished the reputation of the field and may be contributing to the continued decline in the number of medical school applicants.
To entice the best and the brightest students in the nation to consider a career in medicine, Dr. Cohen offered a plan to alter the way medical schools currently choose their incoming classes - a way which, according to Dr. Cohen, over-emphasizes test scores and under-emphasizes personal characteristics. Dr. Cohen suggested that schools begin student screening with an assessment of personal characteristics, use standardized test scores only as threshold measures, and use past experiences to improve their ability to identify promising students.
Dr. Cohen also enjoined the medical education community to examine carefully the manner in which it acculturates students and residents to medical practice. "No matter how successful we are in attracting idealistic, properly motivated students to medicine now or in the future," said Dr. Cohen, "we have little hope of delivering the same number of idealistic, properly motivated doctors to society unless we can close the gap between rhetoric and reality."
RCB Comment AAMC has continued to support changes in admissions and medical education that would graduate more physicians into underserved communities. They sometimes have not understood rural lifestyle and rural economics, but they are becoming more aware of the need and the way to address the need. The ability of the AAMC to create and envision is not in question:
"Rather than accepting the limits of today, let's harness that creativity and wisdom to explore the possibilities for closing the gaps for a better tomorrow." Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. regarding the Collaborative Care model
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