M e d i c a l R e c o r d F e at u r e
Guest Editorial:
The Future of GME in Expanding and Improving Health Care by Wei Du, MD, Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs, Tower Health
E
very September marks the beginning of a new residency recruitment season. While I take immense satisfaction in the recruitment achievements of our Tower Health Residency Programs and Fellowships, I am also acutely aware that numerous inspired medical students and international medical graduates were unable to find a position at the conclusion of each recruitment season, a concern compounded by the escalating physician shortage plaguing our nation. Previous reports indicate that the physician shortage could reach a staggering 124,000 by 2033. The COVID-19 pandemic further laid bare the vulnerability of our healthcare system’s staffing across the entire spectrum. Furthermore, burnout became a parallel crisis among physicians, especially the front-line providers. It is important to recognize that efforts to address the national physician shortage were already underway long before the pandemic, including the establishment of sustainable pipelines through the creation of more medical schools. Between 2002 and 2019, forty-six new medical schools (allopathic and osteopathic) opened. Drexel University College of Medicine and Tower Health jointly opened a new campus in West Reading and welcomed the first class of 40 students in 2020. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) called for a 30% increase in medical student enrollment in 2006 as a response to the looming physician shortage. While medical school enrollments indeed surged, growing by 52% between 2002 and 2019, the adaptation of the GME (Graduate Medical Education) system to such an alarming shortage and expected growing number of residency applicants, particularly its funding mechanisms for residency and fellowship programs, has lagged behind. The number of training positions funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has remained capped since 1997. Although recent legislative changes permit more targeted funding increases, such as funding programs in rural areas, the expansion of medical students has far outpaced the incremental growth in government-funded GME positions.
32 | www.berkscms.org