Dive Brief:
- The University of California, Davis is receiving $1 million in seed money from the American Medical Association (AMA) for a five-year program to fast track medical students training to be primary care doctors.
- Under the program—dubbed Accelerated Competency-based Education in Primary Care, or ACE-PC—some students will be able to practice after just three years of school, rather than four.
- The initiative is meant to combat the looming primary care doctor shortage. Other states are considering a variety of measures to fast track medical students.
Dive Insight:
The program is likely to be popular with students, since it means less time in school and, consequently, less debt. As Kaiser Health News notes, several states including Texas, Georgia, and New York already have three-year medical education programs.
Other states are toying with innovative ideas to tackle the primary care doctor shortage, which some organizations peg at about 90,000 doctors. For instance, Missouri is considering creating a new medical designation called "assistant physicians" for students who have passed their licensing exams but have yet to begin their residencies. These doctors would be overseen by a physician.
Critics of such measures argue that it puts undue pressure on medical students and may lead to inadequately trained doctors. Supporters say that what matters is a medical student's ability, rather than the length of time they have been in school or residency.