The trends in health care delivery for women: challenges for medical education.

The author discusses four key trends in the U.S. health care delivery system that affect how women's health care is delivered: the restructuring of primary care, particularly in the context of managed care organizations; initiatives in quality assessment; changes in patterns of health insurance coverage; and threats to the health care safety net. She concludes that medical educators need to link training to these changes in the health care delivery system to prepare physicians to work effectively for women's health in the changing system and to help bring about appropriate, needed transformations of the institutions in which women's health care is provided. Specific recommendations for medical educators are given after the discussion of each trend.