The debate rages on whether to shorten med school duration (not residency) from 4 to 3 years. This experiment is not new but has been revived in recent years in response to skyrocketing costs and a perceived shortage of physicians. A very recent NY Times article article comes to the same conclusion. Given the tension between the two schools of thought a modified approach has emerged, where students face a competency-based evaluation of their acquired skills to determine when they may matriculate. These accelerated programs coexist with BA/MD and MD/PhD programs, all designed to get the candidate to their endpoint as quickly as possible, with all their pros and cons yet to be worked out.
Posted in Medical School
