Michigan Medical Student Position Statement 5/2007
As fully described in the letter to the Detroit City Council, On May 3rd medical student leaders from across the state met on common ground to reaffirm our commitment to the patients of Michigan and to our colleagues, as stated below: We acknowledge the forecasted physician shortage. We believe that our state needs to focus on recruiting and retaining both students and resident physicians to the state of MI, rather than just spending more money to train physicians who will leave to practice elsewhere. We appreciate the response of medical schools to increase the supply of trainees. However, the rapid expansion of medical schools will further deteriorate already strained clinical training opportunities, especially in SE Michigan. We would like to emphasize that both MSU and WSU are instrumental in addressing the physician shortage, but only if they are united in service to the population of SE Michigan instead of competing for clinical opportunities. We believe the solution is to increase clinical training capacity and healthcare delivery in the Detroit area, so that we can meet this mission without sacrificing the identity of either university. As medical students, we stand united in our efforts to provide quality care to our patients and to strengthen medical education for future physicians.
Comment