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"A major expansion is underway at the nation’s medical schools that will sharply increase the number of new physicians entering the workforce over the next decade to care for an aging baby boom generation. But critics say the move could backfire since medical schools are still channeling too many young doctors into highly paid specialties instead of primary care, which will exacerbate the problem of rising health care costs."

As a medical student who just completed this third year of training, I took special interest in Dr. Pauline Chen’s recent article about Harvard Medical School’s “Integrated Clerkship” – a program that eliminates traditional block-style clerkships and asks students to follow a panel of “up to 100 patients” longitudinally over the course of a year in order to emphasize continuity of care and the humanistic aspects of medicine.  Dr. Chen shares a story about one of her classmates who, in her eyes, began to reduce patients from people to diagnoses.

Responding to calls to meet the state’s physician shortage, Texas medical schools have increased their enrollment by roughly 30 percent in the last decade. But the slots available for students to complete their medical residencies in Texas are not keeping pace, according to a new report from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

"The national debate over health care and the Affordable Care Act that has roiled the country may have some questioning the future of medical care, but it has not dimmed the hopes of thousands of medical students such as Lewis."

The Tulsa area is one of seven regions in the country selected for an initiative that will pay some doctors by patient, instead of by procedure or visit, and could generate more than $100 million in revenue.

"In addition to the hard-science and math questions that have for decades defined this rite of passage into the medical profession, nearly half of the new MCAT will focus on squishier topics in two new sections: one covering social and behavioral sciences and another on critical analysis and reading that will require students to analyze passages covering areas like ethics and cross-cultural studies."

"The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), a prerequisite for admission to U.S. medical schools, currently consists of four sections: physical sciences, verbal reasoning, a writing sample, and biologic sciences. A 2004 Institute of Medicine report on “Improving Medical Education” and several years of evaluation identified a need to redesign the MCAT to better reflect physicians' current challenges. Beginning in 2015, the test will include a section on behavioral and social sciences, and a section on critical analysis and reasoning will replace the writing sample."

"The university is facing its third year with a reduced medical class, downsized from 102 to 82 because of past state budget cuts and loss of federal revenue. The Legislature funded many higher education projects this session, but declined the medical school’s initial request in a multi-year effort to enlarge the class size by 40 seats. Increasing the number of slots would eventually cost taxpayers $9.6 million a year."

"This year, about 17,000 U.S. medical students were matched through the 60-year-old system of interviews and evaluation by teaching hospitals across the country. Some will finish residency after three years and go on to be primary-care physicians. Others will specialize in surgery, cardiology or other areas that require more training."