MDNews - Central New York

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ + +++ ONONDAGA COuNTY MEDiCAl SOCiETY + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Another Wave of New Medical StudeNtS By Gerald N. "Jerry" Hoffman ON AUG. 7, I attended the annual White Coat Ceremony for first-year medical students at Upstate Medical University. Leading up to that day, to satisfy my curiosity, I did some personal research about medical education since World War II. During the Second World War, Syracuse University's College of Medicine — which became part of the State University of New York in 1950 — and many other medical schools reduced the length of medical school. William Schiess, MD, age 92, was among those who graduated from medical school one semester early. A few weeks ago, he commented that "they wanted to send us off to war." He was among 412 local physicians who served in the military during the war. More than 70 years later, there are new efforts to cut back time spent in medical school. New York University is among a very few medical schools that are going to try such a reduction. This would not only decrease the high cost of medical education for students, but it would also produce more physicians in a shorter time. The present shortage of physicians is a critical issue, as the Affordable Care Act will significantly increase the number of patients seeking access to appropriate medical care. Dr. Schiess completed his undergraduate work and medical school in six years, a pattern later adopted by many colleges and medical schools. He is very proud of the fact that despite the fast track he was on, he still made Phi Beta Kappa. His first-year medical school class consisted of 43 males, four females and no African-Americans. Later, his graduating class of 37 had only one female. Dr. Schiess finished No. 2. The late John Duggan, MD, was No. 1. The two classmates became partners in an outstanding Syracuse private practice in internal medicine. The current Dean of Upstate's College of Medicine, David Duggan, MD, followed in his father's footsteps and attended the same medical school. He went to the Boston area for his postgraduate education and training before returning to his hometown. When Patricia Numann, MD, entered medical school here in 1961, her class of 84 had eight females. At that time, that represented the largest number of female medical students in the school's history. Dr. Numann, who completed all her medical schooling and training in Syracuse, became a highly respected surgeon and a specialist in breast surgery. Recently she served as president of the American College of Surgeons, only the second female president of the national specialty society. Fast forward to 2013. The first-year medical student class at Upstate is nearly evenly split: 52 percent of students are male, and 48 percent are female. The class includes students from approximately 90 colleges. There were about 4,800 applicants for the 165 slots. Nearly 90 percent came from New York state. That has been a trend in recent years as the state's medical schools do their best to address physician shortages in many areas of the state, particularly in rural areas — some not far from Syracuse. Annual medical school tuition, in the $600–$800 range in the early 1940s, is $32,190 this year for New Yorkers and $57,380 for out-of-state medical students. Asked to contrast and compare medical education of today with that of the 1940s, Dean Duggan notes that present-day medical students have many more sophisticated tools and data at their disposal in diagnosing and treating patients. He also says far more diseases have appeared on the scene, presenting new challenges. In an age of many changes and more specialization, however, Dr. Duggan emphasizes that the importance of the patient-physician relationship — the cornerstone of medical care — has not changed in medical education. Gerald N. "Jerry" Hoffman is Executive Vice President of the Onondaga County Medical Society and co-author of two books: Medical Malpractice Insurance, A Legislator's View, and The History of Local Medical Care, 1806-2006. ■

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