The crisis in primary care and the role of medical schools. Defining the issues.

While a number of issues have diminished the attractiveness of primary care residency programs to USGs, the absolute number of residents in these programs has increased rather than diminished over the past decade, although the proportion of USGs choosing these fields has decreased. In the current arena of medical practice, there are many reasons why these fields are not among the most attractive, and there are several remedies that could be applied to increase their attractiveness. Focusing on medical schools as the sole cause of this dilemma, however, is the least effective way of accomplishing this objective; in addition, this will allow those truly able to increase interest in these fields, such as state and federal governments, to have a reason for not doing so. As long as the medical marketplace is sufficiently large enough to accommodate more than the number of graduates from US medical schools in "desirable" residency training positions, one can never effectively "force" a choice of residency training, nor should one. Primary care can be among the most rewarding of specialties, if adequately supported. It is this support that is lacking and must be addressed.