A Plea for Role Models

To the Editor. —Ward Griffen's commentary¹ in the May 1990 issue of the Archives identifies that "something is amiss in the house of medical education." I could not agree more. However, rather than addressing the deficiencies he cites (eg, disinterested clinical faculty, basic sciences that seem more like an obstacle course than a learning experience, and the senior year spent in "job hunting") I would like to concentrate on his alternatives. He recommends compressing the undergraduate and medical school period to 6 years and then spending a mandatory 2 years in medical service. The latter time is to be spent in areas "designated as underserved by the current physician population." He also suggests that these doctors may learn to "practice better medicine without the ready availability of much advanced technologic equipment."

I may be wrong, but isn't this analogous to suggesting that we train the future generation of Delta Airline