July is back, and clinical faculty at teaching hospitals have again braced for the annual deluge of new residents just beginning their specialty training. Unfortunately, our new doctors may be more unprepared than ever.
The gap between medical school (the four years leading to the MD degree) and residency (advanced training in a particular field) has widened over the past several years. Changes in the health care system, shifting patient expectations, and an evolution in the perceived role of physicians make the landscape nearly impossible to navigate for newly minted MDs. An information-dense medical school curriculum often means that schools leave some of the most practical information for last — or for not at all.
At first glance, the data don’t look so bad; in last year’s annual graduation questionnaire of the American Association of Medical Colleges, 89 percent of graduating medical students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I am confident that I have acquired the clinical skills required to begin a residency program.” Keep in mind, though, that data are collected between February and June of the fourth year of medical school, before students are exposed to their lives as residents.
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