Although an annual survey of American medical schools conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges indicates that first-year national medical school enrollments will increase 17 percent by 2012, Washington University’s School of Medicine does not currently have the capacity to expand its enrollment.
In a press release on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Web site, AAMC President Darrell Kirch said that the major reason for the expansion is the need for increased physician manpower to accommodate an increasing United States population.
“The need for more doctors is real and will become more urgent as our population grows and ages,” he said. “This increase is a significant step in the right direction, and we are pleased that 71 U.S. medical schools plan to expand their class sizes over the next five years. But clearly, we must find additional ways to stimulate more growth in medical school capacity so that we have enough doctors to care for our nation in the coming decades.”
According to the survey, the future predicted enrollment was compared to enrollment in the 2002-2003 school year. That year, first-year enrollment totaled 16,448 students. By 2012, with the expansions implemented, first-year national medical school enrollment is projected to reach about 19,000 students.
According to W. Edwin Dodson, associate dean for Medical School Admissions and Continuing Medical Education, the School of Medicine’s applicant pool size has generally fluctuated in eight- to 10-year cycles. In 1996, applicants peaked at 7,014, but according to admissions data from the School of Medicine, in recent years there have been about 4,000 applicants per year, with 4,064 applicants in 2006.
Even with the increasing and aging U.S. population, the School of Medicine has kept its entering class size constant at approximately 120 since the mid 1970s. According to Dodson, 99 percent of entering students will eventually graduate.
“Once someone is accepted, the medical school is extremely supportive and tries to provide whatever [the students] need to finish,” said Dodson.
Additionally, graduates get into some of the most competitive residency programs in the country, including programs affiliated with the University of California-San Francisco, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Harvard University. A significant number of students stay at Wash. U., completing residency programs at Barnes-Jewish Hospital or the Children’s Hospital.
The School of Medicine has recently discussed the possibility of increasing its enrollment. However, despite the continually aging American population and the eventual need for more physicians, Dodson said that the school has decided against expanding for now.
“For the time being, we don’t have the capacity to increase our class size without diluting our educational experience,” he said. “As a result, there are currently no plans to increase the class size,” he said.
One reason for the decision was that the school does not currently have the ability to expand its clinical training programs to accommodate increased class sizes.
“Students spend a lot of time with faculty. One concern is that we would have to go outside our clinical facilities and develop new clinical training options for our students, which not a feasible option at this time,” said Dodson.
At this point, the medical school can only realistically expand by a minimal amount.
“We really have state-of-the-art classroom facilities, and we can accommodate some degree of increase based on the facilities. But the limiting factors at this point are clinical capacity to provide students opportunity for clinical education.”