January 12, 2007

A Growth Spurt for Medical Schools

Dozens of new institutions are in the works to help remedy the predicted shortage of doctors

By Katherine Mangan

When Florida State University opened a new medical school in 2001, experts who believed the nation would soon be drowning in a sea of doctors questioned whether it was needed. Five years later, many of the same experts are welcoming plans for at least a dozen new medical schools and the expansion of dozens more.

Instead of a glut, experts now fear the nation will face a serious shortage of physicians just when the aging population will need them most.

That stunning about-face