Reply to Why do top US universities weed out most pre-med kids & then we import foreign MDs?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Every student at every top 20 US college has the IQ and standardized test chops to become a pediatrician, at least, yet STEM departments and college administrators get off on weeding out 50-75% of them. From pre-med -> consulting, law and finance. Then we fill half of our hospitals up with doctors from Egypt, Pakistan, and India? My parents last few visits to the hospital were awful experiences with rude foreign doctors who treated them like trash.[/quote]

First, the obvious fact that many at top 20 colleges are not focused on STEM.  And of those who are, many are into economics/finance, CS or engineering rather than the natural sciences. So far from all of them have the intellectual inclination to do the course work needed to be a primary care doctor.

Second, a more subtle point.  Med schools like to accept from as wide and diverse set of schools as possible and there are limited slots.  Many of the bigger and higher ranked schools have med school committees that effectively decide who gets the good med school recommendations that they feel will uphold their reputation with those schools and those who will not.  Weeding out through course work allows them to limit the extent to which they have to give half-hearted or worse recommendations. (I admit no sources for this except a lot of perusal of Student Doctor Network forums.)

Third, the number of med school graduates is only sufficient to fill 75% to 80% of the available residencies.  The rest are filled with foreign med school graduates who have, nonetheless, passed the USMLEs.  We need the residencies to have sufficient doctors so cutting back on them to limit foreign graduates is not really an option.  Most of the foreign graduates are going into the much needed primary care residencies.  The only other solution would be to expand the number of slots at US medical schools.  But this is difficult for a number of reasons and expensive as well.  [/quote]

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