CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy today reaffirming the need for increasing medical residency slots and expanding funding sources for graduate medical education (GME) to improve access to health care. The new policy addresses the many valuable ways that physicians-in-training contribute to the health and well-being of the general public in both the U.S. and around the world during their residency, including providing care to underserved areas and at-risk populations.

Through the new policy, the AMA will advocate for continued and expanded GME funding from federal, state, local and private sources. Specifically, the AMA will advocate for federal funding for the National Healthcare Workforce Commission, established under the Affordable Care Act, to provide the nation with data and health care workforce policy that supports the value of GME to the nation as a whole.

"The AMA has been a strong advocate for expanding the number of medical residency positions to train physicians in needed specialties and regions to increase patient access to health care," said AMA Board Member Maya A. Babu, M.D. "We will continue to build on these efforts to ensure adequate funding for GME and increase awareness of the value that medical residents create within our health care system and local economies."

Over the last year, the AMA has adopted numerous other policies calling for the modernization of GME, including increased funding for medical residency slots, development of innovative practice models and residency positions that reflect societal needs. Most recently, the AMA has urged support of two federal bills — the Creating Access to Residency Education (CARE) Act, which would expand funding for graduate medical education and improve access to health care for patients in underserved areas, and the recently introduced Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015, which would also help increase the number of residency slots and address physician shortages.

Additionally, the AMA's Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative is addressing some of these issues through projects aimed at defining the optimal learning environment along the continuum of medical education and training medical students in new ways to ensure physicians are prepared to practice in the evolving health care landscape.