Residency positions offered in three specialties

Many believe that the changing economic environment might have dramatic effects on the quality or quantity of graduate medical training, yet the evidence is scant. This article assesses the impact of economic factors on the number of residency positions offered by teaching hospitals in surgery, in medicine, in pathology, and in the hospital as a whole. It first outlines in a nontechnical way the policy and empirical implications of an economic approach to residency training. The empirical analysis then compares results from three separate data sets, using both hospitalwide and department-specific information. The article closes by using the estimates to attempt an assessment of the likely impact of cost control and increased competition on training opportunities.