Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA, said medical schools may soon follow law schools that have been forced to lower their admission standards to maintain enrollment numbers, according to Physician's Money Digest.
Although the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates medical school enrollment will increase by 30 percent by 2019, Dr. Meyers argues their predictions may not hold true if experts are wrong about the physician shortage, and physician demand doesn’t continue to increase.
Here are eight insights into how medical school issues parallel those of law schools.
1. Massive student debt that may take years for students to pay off.
2. A diminishing job market, in which technology and other types of providers may replace physicians.
3. Following an academic medical school model that may not work for the majority of schools due to less research funding as well as less state support for higher education.
4. Have tenure policies that are no longer economically realistic.
5. An insufficient, and often, "broken," business model.
6. Schools not adequately preparing graduates for the changing healthcare landscape.
7. An aging workforce who has no intention of retiring.
8. Online teaching technologies that replace faculty members.
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