Medical Education *is* two-tiered. At least two tiers.

[IMPD]

http://www.sciencecodex.com/medical...ess_strong_research_focus_is_preserved-156154

Great article. I don't know what more to add to this except that we're already there.

Whether you talk about the new MD schools, the new DO schools (or even some established DO schools), the "purpose" of universal physician-scientist training is being changed. I can't say that we should have an explicit two-tier system (i.e. well-funded NIH schools where grads get a nice gold star for research after their MD and everyone else who gets to be a "regular doc"), but effectively that is where things seem to be.

It certainly drives part of the anxiety amongst applicants who view the top 50 Uni programs as a career/life make-or-break situation. The fact that 95% of applicants will end up as practicioners and not physician-scientists does not seem to affect this.

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[Obnoxious Dad]

The article linked by the OP is ironic in many ways. First, the authors cite no evidence that medical school graduates from MD schools like Mercer and Marshall are less effective physicians, when all other factors about the students are equal, than physicians who graduate from research power houses. All the authors have going for them is their own prejudices and priorities. Second, the article is a tacit admission that medical schools in the US subsidize research at the students’ expense. Third, the authors conveniently ignore the fact that most of the foreign medical graduates we see in the U.S. come from institutions with no research apparatus. Finally, the authors ignore the fact that most medical students are overburdened with the material they need to pass licensing exams and would happily avoid listening to unfunded researchers blab about their pointless and clinically irrelevant research.

The article is about grubbing for more research dollars and the preservation of empires. That’s it.

 

[Mad Jack]

Not every medical student needs or wants to be a researcher. I'd rather hang myself than be forced down a research track, personally.

 

[qwerty89]

Of course its a BS system.

Think about how all (to my knowledge) Pediatric Fellowships are 3 years long which DOUBLES the length of training. In many of these there is 1 year of rigorous clinical work and the other 2 are mainly research years with clinic thrown in here and there.

None of those fellows are lackeys helping their assistant/associate professors move up the academic ladder by doing their grunt work...

Right?