The Development of New MD-Granting Medical Schools in the United States in the 21st Century

No new MD-granting medical schools were established during the 1980s and 1990s due to concerns that existed within the academic and policymaking communities that the United States was going to experience a major oversupply of physicians in the coming decades due to the increase that had occurred in medical school enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the results of studies conducted in the 1990s suggested that the country was actually going to experience a major shortage of physicians in the coming decades. As a result, new medical schools began to be established in the country after the turn of the 21st century. Since then, 29 new MD-granting medical schools have been established in the United States. This Invited Commentary examines some of the characteristics of the new schools and provides an overview of various factors that contributed to their development, including financial resources and geographic location.