The AMA addresses concerns regarding the challenges faced by the current graduate medical education (GME) system with a report on GME initiatives to help inform future GME advocacy.
Overview
The AMA’s Council on Legislation and Council on Medical Education originated this report to focus on viable ways to improve graduate medical education (GME), to ensure medical students have the opportunity to fulfill training requirements and become practicing doctors. As workforce experts continue to predict that the U.S. will face a significant physician shortage for both primary care and specialty physicians over the next 10+ years if training positions are not expanded, AMA’s Advocacy unit has continued to update this compendium to ensure that there are relevant resources available for medical students, residents and more senior physicians to navigate the issues that exist within GME.
Challenges GME faces
GME faces an ever-growing list of persistent and deepening challenges, including the following:
- High levels of medical student debt that may influence future career choices away from family medicine and primary care and toward higher paying specialties.
- An inadequate supply of primary care physicians, general surgeons and psychiatrists compared to other medical specialists.
- Poor geographic distribution of physicians that limits access to health care for many individuals and communities in both rural and urban settings.
Download the Compendium of GME Initiatives Report
Learn more about AMA's efforts for improving GME with the Compendium of Graduate Medical Education Initiatives Report (PDF).
