Rapid Changes for Academic Medical Centers

Many of the nation's academic medical centers face an uncertain future because of developments that threaten the traditional ways in which they have carried out their multiple missions. When Democratic congressional leaders recently declared comprehensive health care reform dead, the ambitious efforts of medical educators to win massive new forms of public support in a reconfigured health care system were thwarted. Thus, the government, rather than become the potential savior of academic medicine, may soon become a villain as Congress reconsiders Medicare's support for graduate medical education in its efforts to pare the federal budget. Further complicating the future of . . .