More medical students should be educated in the community, US report says

Output of medical schools in the United States is lagging behind the country’s rapidly evolving healthcare needs, says a report published on 29 January. But projected growth in medical education offers an unprecedented opportunity for reform, it adds.

The report, which drew on a number of research papers and a conference last October, calls for more education to be carried out in the community and for a greater emphasis on preventive health.

“Medical schools must reduce significantly their dependence on high tech hospitals and find ways to educate their students in community settings, where patients receive the vast majority of their health care,” said the study chairman, …