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Study of Internal Medicine Manpower: XX
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
The National Study of Internal Medicine Manpower: XX [1] gives detailed insight into the changing demographics in internal medicine. I believe, however, that a slight error was made in the interpretation of the demographics; it becomes even more important to discuss this issue because recommendations are often based on these interpretations.
According to Table 2 in the article, 99% of U.S. medical school graduates are in group D, 43% of whom go directly into subspecialty training (the highest percentage among all the groups). The authors have attributed this high percentage in both groups C and D to the possibility of an exceptionally high rate of foreign national international medical graduates (FNIMGs) in groups C and D entering subspecialty training. This assumption appears completely incorrect for group D; I find it hard to believe that 1% of FNIMGs in group D would account for a major part of the 43% of group D graduates entering subspecialties.
The authors further attempt to identify programs with high numbers of FNIMGs, which are likely to be particularly vulnerable to reduction under a reformed system of graduate medical education. This identification, according to the authors, was done because the FNIMGs have a higher rate of subspecialization. If the data are reviewed carefully, the programs in group D should be seen as particularly vulnerable to reductions under a reformed system of graduate medical education.
Mohammed Saud Anwar
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
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