Surge in medical schools may boost education, career opportunities of prospective doctors
Posted on 2/16/2010
Medical schools are traditionally considered as difficult to get into, but this may soon change as new academic institutions are set to open their doors to students in the next few years, according to media reports.
After years of stagnation - in the 1980s and 1990s only one new medical school was established - nearly two dozen institutions have recently opened or might open across the nation, including The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which enrolled its inaugural class last year, according to The New York Times.
The trend is designed to expand opportunities for talented individuals who had been forced to study abroad or give up their dreams altogether due to a lack of space at American universities.
"Huge numbers of qualified American kids were not getting into American medical schools or going abroad to study," said Dr Lawrence G. Smith, dean of the proposed Hofstra University School of Medicine in Hempstead, New York, quoted by the news provider.
"I think it was a kind of a wake-up call," he added.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for physicians and surgeons will average 22 percent during the next eight years. In 2008, physicians practicing primary care had total median annual compensation of $186,044, while specialists earned median annual compensation of $339,738.
After years of stagnation - in the 1980s and 1990s only one new medical school was established - nearly two dozen institutions have recently opened or might open across the nation, including The Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which enrolled its inaugural class last year, according to The New York Times.
The trend is designed to expand opportunities for talented individuals who had been forced to study abroad or give up their dreams altogether due to a lack of space at American universities.
"Huge numbers of qualified American kids were not getting into American medical schools or going abroad to study," said Dr Lawrence G. Smith, dean of the proposed Hofstra University School of Medicine in Hempstead, New York, quoted by the news provider.
"I think it was a kind of a wake-up call," he added.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for physicians and surgeons will average 22 percent during the next eight years. In 2008, physicians practicing primary care had total median annual compensation of $186,044, while specialists earned median annual compensation of $339,738.
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