Back to Front PageVOLUME 6, NUMBER 4

Med School Applicant Pool Still Runs Deep

By Barbara Gabriel

Although the number of applicants declined this year, there's no shortage of aspiring physicians hoping to be accepted to the nation's medical schools. According to AAMC figures, while this year's applicant pool of 37,137 represents a 3.6 percent drop from last year, more than two applicants are still vying for every available space.

After peaking at about 47,000 in 1996, the number of medical school applicants has declined each year. A variety of factors, chief among them the strong economy, mounting frustration with managed care, and rising student debt, is blamed for the four-year downturn.

However, current applicant levels are still a significant increase over a low reached in 1988, when the nation's medical schools had a pool of fewer than 27,000 applicants from which to choose. And with the applicant-to-space ratio at nearly 2.3-to-1, most experts agree that the decline is far from a cause for alarm.

"There's a lot of speculation about what's causing the decline," says Robert Beran, Ph.D., vice president of the AAMC's Division of Student Affairs and Education Services. "Potential medical school applicants are probably influenced by the increasing number of stories in the media about physicians dissatisfied with their careers within the constricting environment of managed care.

"Students see physicians losing autonomy, spending more time on paperwork than with patients, and they are aware of the burden of debt that they will face upon graduation. Meanwhile, business is promising quick financial returns to new hires. It's not surprising that many undergraduates are rethinking committing themselves to another seven to nine years of schooling."

Pamela Cranston, Ph.D., associate vice president of the AAMC's Section for Student Services, agrees that the "delayed gratification" that accompanies the significant commitment required by medical school is more difficult for students to accept in times of economic prosperity.

"The dot-coms are attracting more students," she explains. "Students see people become millionaires by age 30 and compare that with extended, rigorous schooling that will leave them in considerable debt."

Lewis H. Nelson III, M.D., associate dean of student services and admissions at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, says, "When the economy is doing extremely well, medical school applications tend to be down, and vice versa. But," he adds, "it's very difficult to say it's a cause-and-effect relationship; it's simply an associated finding. The dot-coms get a lot of publicity, however in the end only a few rise to the top of the food chain and end up millionaires."

Dr. Nelson suggests that student debt may be a factor in the decline of medical school applicants. "When our tuition significantly increased in 1997, we saw a 17 percent drop in applications," he notes. Although recent years have not matched the applicant boom of the mid-'90s, Dr. Nelson says that Wake Forest continues to maintain a healthy applicant pool for the 108 spots it has to offer.

Does lower quantity mean lower quality? Noting that the average GPA for medical school matriculants continues to rise, while MCAT scores are staying steady or increasing, Dr. Beran maintains that the quality of medical students has not been compromised with the recent applicant decline.

Even at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, where in-state applications have dropped 21 percent from 555 students in 1995 to 436 students in 2000, approximately five students are applying for each one of the 95 spots the college has to fill.

"The people who are applying to medical school are those who really want to be physicians, those who are going into medicine to help others," says Carol L. Elam, Ed.D., assistant dean for admissions at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. "These students are not the ones being drawn away by the technology sector."

But she adds that recruiting programs should continue to seek out those students who ultimately heed medicine's altruistic calling. "Many medical schools are experiencing financial difficulties and may be tempted to cut their recruiting programs. I think that's short-sighted. We need to maintain the mentoring programs and summer research experiences that are critical to fostering a love of science in young people."

Robert Sabalis, Ph.D., associate vice president in the AAMC's Section for Student Programs, predicts that some students who are today being lured away by the technology sector will return in several years to a profession like medicine that has more personal meaning.

"As an admissions officer, I saw engineering and technology majors come back five to seven years after graduation and complain that although their careers were intellectually challenging, they lacked personal satisfaction. They would say, 'I've been there and done that, and now I want to come back and do something that gives me the personal fulfillment of dealing with people rather than machines.'"

---

AAMC Home | Government Affairs | Newsroom | Publications | Meetings | Students and Applicants | About the AAMC | Search | Site Map
Questions and Comments | © 1995-2004 AAMC Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement

08 February 2005