Fact or Fiction?

I have been reading up on the numerous "medblogs" that litter the "internets." I am intrigued by the fact that there is this whole genre of blogs that are out there that go mostly unnoticed by the general public. A person could spend all day reading and still not catch up on all the new posts. It's like trying to fit the smithsonian into one day. As I read these blogs from people from all facets of the medical field I am reminded of the fact that I have a long way to go. I started obsessing over the fact that medical school applicant numbers increase from year to year, and it is getting more and more competitive to gain entrance into medical school. Of course this is all anecdotal from pre-meds who are trying to scare the shit out of each other while listening to a lecture on fisher projections and redox reactions. Students often make these preemptive proclamations to also soften the blow of a rejection letter months down the road. I set out to find out for myself whether there was any truth to these rumors, and because I am guilty of regurgitating the same "facts" all the time.

According to AAMC more than 42,300 individuals applied to enter medical school in 2007, an increase of 8.2 percent over 2006. Nearly 32,000 were first-time applicants, the highest number on AAMC record. And according to amednews.com the American Assn. of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine also saw its applicant pool reach a record level for the 2007-08 academic year, with 11,500 candidates." So how many were accepted and enrolled out of this huge applicant pool? AAMC says that the 2007 entering class to U.S. medical schools is the largest in the nation's history, according to new data released today by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). The number of first-year enrollees totals almost 17,800 students, a 2.3 percent increase over 2006. The bad news is that "overall, the academic credentials of applicants to medical school this year were stronger than ever before, with the highest MCAT scores and cumulative grade point averages on record. In addition, over the past five years there has been an increase in applicants' average amount of experience in premedical activities, including time spent in medical research and community service in clinical and nonclinical settings."

The good news for us and the bad news for the public is that "the need for more doctors is real and will become more urgent as our population grows and ages," said AAMC President Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. "This increase is a significant step in the right direction, and we are pleased that 71 U.S. medical schools plan to expand their class sizes over the next five years. But clearly, we must find additional ways to stimulate more growth in medical school capacity so that we have enough doctors to care for our nation in the coming decades."

However there are numerous barriers to increasing enrollment that need to be addressed including available scholarships, classroom space, ambulatory preceptors and costs. I guess there was some truth to all those pre-med horror stories, but at least there is demand for the supply. Now all we need to do is fix the distribution.