An observer discusses factors in the choice of medicine as a career, trends in medical school enrollment and student characteristics, problems posed for medicine by those factors and trends, and their sources and solutions in current medical education. (MSE)

In the middle of the 20th century, job training was largely unnecessary, since workers were desperately needed to labor in manufacturing and construction jobs. Skills were learned on the job, and even a high school diploma was not needed for most occupations. Workers received wages that allowed them to raise a family comfortably and then to retire…