In 2006, the AAMC recognized that the United States was facing a physician shortage. They recommended a 30% increase in medical enrollment from the numbers in 2002-3 by the 2015-16 school year. While this goal was not met on time, it has since been surpassed (Boyle, 2020). However, as medical school enrollment has grown, so have the challenges of placing students in clinical sites, meaning that fewer spots are readily available for more students.
If schools cannot place their students into clinical rotations and residencies, this increase in enrollment will not be able to help the physician shortage; the clinical portion of medical education is crucial, and physicians cannot be sent into the workforce without it. Schools are aware of this issue; in 2020, 84% of schools were concerned about finding enough clinical rotation sites with 86% worried about finding qualified primary care preceptors (ibid).
This disparity is due to a number of reasons… read more