February 22, 2007
Medical school enrollment expected to increase by 2012
Enrollment at medical schools around the country is expected to increase by 17 percent in the next several years, according to the results of an annual survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). First-year enrollment is projected to rise from about 16,000 students in 2002-3 to more than 19,000 students in 2012, the association found.
If the Washington state legislature funds the proposed expansion of the WWAMI medical education program in Spokane, the number of Washington residents in the UW medical school class will increase by about 17 percent.
The national projections are the result of the AAMC’s annual survey of medical school expansion plans. The association had recommended last year a 30 percent expansion in enrollment over the next several years, and the survey indicates that medical schools are making progress toward that goal.
In a statement released with the report, AAMC President Darrell G. Kirch argued that academic medicine must find additional ways to stimulate growth in medical school capacity to meet the growing demand for doctors.
The survey is conducted by the AAMC Center for Workforce Studies, and attempts to track and analyze the supply and demand for physicians. This issue, along with strategies and goals for retaining doctors in the workforce and more effectively utilizing practicing physicians, will be discussed at the AAMC Physician Workforce Research Conference, which will be held May 2-4 in Washington, D.C.
A copy of the report on medical school expansion plans is available from the AAMC Web site at: http://www.aamc.org/workforce/2006medschoolexpansion.pdf.
