Making sense of federal GME reforms: the need for secondary reforms

Physician workforce issues in the healthcare reform debate have led to considerable agreement on the need to reform graduate medical education (GME) in order to control the cost, mix and supply of physician manpower. The osteopathic medical profession's infrastructure is ill-prepared to respond to many of the changes that policymakers are suggesting. In last month's issue, the author reviewed the Gephardt and Mitchell bills, which emerged during the last Congress, identified the reforms recommended for GME, and examined the elements of agreement between the bills. The position of osteopathic medicine vis-à-vis healthcare reform was explored and distinctions between the two bills were drawn. In this article, the author recommends comprehensive secondary reforms in the osteopathic medical profession's three institutions--its colleges, its hospitals, and its political organization, the American Osteopathic Association.