The future of graduate medical education

Abstract

In many areas of our country, physicians are in oversupply, and concern is growing that this surplus is not in the best interest of either patients or the medical profession. The abundance of physicians is largely a reflection of the unlimited federal support of graduate medical education (GME), which permits graduate programs to enlarge without regard to the needs of the population. Although this federal support has been an important source of revenue for many teaching hospitals, it has stimulated unguided expansion that has become an additional burden for a struggling Medicare program.