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An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Michael M. E. Johns, MD

JAMA. 1993;269(24):3156-3157.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Health care reform is now a national priority. But the success of any health care reform plan will depend on our ability to put the necessary physicians, related health care workers, and resources within reach of all who need them. Since the current mix and distribution of physicians obviously will not meet those goals, bold steps are required. In light of President Clinton's call for national service, I believe it is time to incorporate national health service into graduate medical education.

See also p 3136.

Two problems lead me to this conclusion. First, the mix of generalist and specialist physicians has shifted dramatically to specialization.¹ Second, the geographic distribution of physicians is not aligned with need. Most affluent metropolitan areas have an overabundance of super-specialists, while some areas suffer from the lack of even a single generalist.¹

Solutions to the first problem are not hard to envision. Currently, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Office of the Vice President for Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.

Footnotes
An abridged version of this Editorial appears in the Spring 1993 issue of Hopkins Medical News.

Reprint requests to the Office of the Vice President for Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, MD 21205-2196 (Dr Johns).

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