What was your wait time, the last time you went to the doctor? Maybe you were feeling sick, injured or just needed a checkup. Or, maybe you called ahead of time and were told they couldn’t see you for another eight weeks. Why might this be?

            According to the Association of Medical Colleges, the United States is projected to have a shortage of over 120,000 of physicians in the year 2030 (Heiser, S. 2019). These are not just shortages for primary care, but also, medical and surgical specialties. Not only are people having to wait longer times in primary care offices, but also to get surgeries and work done by other specialists. Speculations and studies have shown that these could be due to the debt of medical school, the lifestyle of a physician, or even perhaps, the rigorous and competitive path to and through medical school. While the need is so great for physicians, one can’t help but wonder why it is so difficult to get into medical school. If there is a shortage, shouldn’t we be doing more for the chances of acceptances for our future doctors?

            For the 2018 academic year, there were 52,777 applicants to medical school around the United States and 21,622 were matriculated (Gottschling 2016). That means, on average, only 41% of applicants are accepted each year. This disheartening realization is difficult to understand and discouraging to many prospective physicians.

            The following video relays the steps and qualifications needed for an acceptance. From community service to high GPAs, the admission committees look at it all. It almost seems that there is truly no perfect applicant. Keep in mind, these applicants are, on average, in their early to mid 20’s. This doesn’t leave very many years of life, post high school graduation, to attain so many qualifications.

            Although this video is from one of the finest and most competitive institutions in the country, the process stays true for the majority of medical schools. How can we increase the odds of acceptance for our future doctors? How can we motivate more people to follow the path of medicine?

Citations

Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (2018). Association of American Medical Colleges. doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

            Heiser, S. (2019). New research shows increasing physician shortages in both primary and specialty care. [online] News.aamc.org. Available at: https://news.aamc.org/press-releases/article/workforce_report_shortage_04112018/ [Accessed 30 Jan. 2019].