The Role of the Federal Government in Graduate Medical Education

Abstract

Academic Health Centers (AHCs) are vital to the nation’s health delivery system, research and education enterprise, and economy, but their survival is being threatened by forces in the health care marketplace, major reductions in public and private funding, and the information/communication revolution. The University of Minnesota and other AHCs across the country are responding to these challenges, but federal help is critical to assure high quality education for health care professionals and to enhance the vitality of AHCs for the future. These initiatives include a national trust fund for graduate medical education, demonstration projects, centers of excellence, investments in information systems and databases, access to capital funding, work force benchmarking, and increased accountability.