California's lieutenant governor has proposed a fast-track medical school that would shave three years off the training needed to become a physician. It is not the first time such an idea has been offered. The proposal, for a hoped-for medical school at the University of California at Merced, struck some medical educators as both unrealistic and…

Two years ago, the only historically black medical school west of the Mississippi faced a grim prognosis after county officials pulled the plug on its relationship with a troubled hospital. Today the medical school that has reportedly trained about a third of Los Angeles County's black and Hispanic physicians is back on its feet and planning an…

Unlike the schools of old, where students spent two years focused on science and theory before they set foot in a hospital, new medical schools are integrating clinical care into the first two years. Existing schools have taken steps in this direction. But, says John E. Prescott, chief academic officer of the Association of American Medical…

While the number of medical-school campuses in Arizona doubled--from two to four--in the last few years, there is no assurance that all of the new doctors they graduate will stick around to practice in the state. Medical schools here and nationwide are struggling to line up enough clinical-training slots so that an influx of new upper-level…

Discusses the growing involvement between medical schools and medical industries and the ethical problems this situation poses. The main concern is that investigators may expose subjects to unnecessary risks because they are driven by financial motives. (SLD)

This article reports that Canadian medical students, inspired by an online community and an obscure heart condition, have ditched their books and transformed their class notes into a pulsating, hip-hop music video. "Diagnosis Wenckebach"--the name comes from a type of abnormal heart rhythm--was created as just one of many innovative…