The Opportunities and Societal Benefits of an Accelerated 3-Year Medical School Education

By Stephen F Hightower MD FACP

“The Good Physician treats the Disease. The Great Physician Treats the Patient Who Has the Disease”. Sir William Osler

fixingushealthcare.com

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Dear Mr. President, Honorable Members of Congress and Distinguished Staff and Fine

Citizens,

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) made projections in March of 2024, that the United States would face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. This number is actually less than the report in 2021, due to the hypothetical future

growth in the number of medical residency positions nationwide. These new scenarios

demonstrate the positive impact on physician supply if states, teaching health systems and hospitals, Congress, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can continue to build upon their investments in graduate medical education.

The AAMC notes that people currently struggle to find new physicians. This includes primary care, specialty and mental health physicians. This is especially true in rural communities.

An opportunity to assist in the development of new physicians is the development of the Accelerated 3-year medical school concept. About 30 schools are members of the Consortium of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs, (CAMPP). They are scattered across the US and Canada in rural and urban areas. Examples include, McMaster University in Ontario Canada, which has been offering an accelerated medical degree since 1969, and is the role model for this form of education; Medical College of Wisconsin’s Green Bay and Central Wisconsin campuses; New York University’s Manhattan-based Grossman School of Medicine and its Long Island School of Medicine; Penn State University College of Medicine; and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center According to the Board of Directors the group continues to row as more schools are looking to reduce the overall cost of medical school, minimize student debt burdens, and give future doctors the flexibility to choose less lucrative medical specialties, such as Family Medicine, or Primary Care Internal Medicine.

Universities may also be considering adding 3-year programs to address doctor

shortages in certain regions and medical specialties, and to increase the number of physicians overall as demand for health care services rise at public academic institutions based in medically underserved areas.

The 3-year medical degree program typically focuses on a particular area of medicine and includes fewer elective rotations to help reduce the risk of student burnout. However similar basic lessons in anatomy and other essential subjects are presented in the same way as standard programs.

The course schedule at allopathic and osteopathic medical schools is very demanding and students have less free time to participate in extracurricular activities than their peers in four-year medical programs. Similarly, their summer and winter breaks are typically shorter than their four-year counterparts.

There should be no assumption that the 3-year medical schools won’t prepare students adequately for residency, or that there is crucial information omitted from these programs. Some accelerated programs automatically grant entry into a particular residency program after their three years of coursework, though students can opt out if it is not a good fit. Such a guarantee can help students avoid the competitive residency match process.

Overall, the successful addition of robust, and well developed 3-year medical education programs, that can prepare medical students for desired residencies in Family Practice and Primary Care Internal Medicine, and which are focused on serving the entire spectrum of primary care needs, promotes improved patient access to a much larger number of Family Practice and Primary Care Internal Medicine physicians, capable of high value care which is so desperately needed.

Respectfully submitted,

Stephen H Hightower MD FACP

fixingushealthcare.com

Copy to: We The People at fixingushealthcare.com