Medical schools and their applicants: an analysis.

Shortages of physicians have existed periodically throughout U.S. history. In response, medical school capacity has been increased, by either building new schools or expanding existing ones. Each strategy has encountered the obstacles of time, money, and applicants. If the United States chooses to increase its infrastructure for medical education again, these past experiences offer lessons that can be drawn upon. The most instructive ones are how long this process will take, how important public sponsorship and financing will be, and how much it will depend on antecedent dynamics within K-12 and baccalaureate education to assure an adequate flow of applicants, all of which makes the need to develop strategies for the future ever more pressing.