Investment or Entrapment? The High Cost of Medical Education and its Implications for Students, Medicine, and Society
The growing costs of medical education in the United States have lead to an ever-increasing proportion of students who graduate with very high educational debt: a national mean of $170,000. High student debt has unintended consequences for students, the physician workforce, and health care access. Despite growing awareness of the problem, educational and policy leaders have not been able to develop sustainable, equitable solutions. In part, the stalemate is sustained by a fundamental unanswered question: When both the public and the student benefit from medical education, who should pay the financial costs?
Dr. Phillips will discuss the history of medical student debt in the United States, its local and national consequences for students and the public, strengths and limitations of current programs, barriers to change, and possible solutions.
Join us for Dr. Phillips’ lecture on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 from noon till 1 pm in person or online:
In person: The lecture will take place in East Fee Hall on MSU’s East Lansing campus, in the Patenge Room (C102). Directions. Feel free to bring your lunch! Beverages and light snacks will be provided.
Online: Here are some instructions for your first time joining the webinar, or if you have attended or viewed them before, go to the meeting!
Julie Phillips, MD, MPH is an assistant professor of Family Medicine at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, where she cares for patients and teaches medical students and residents. She studies medical education and ways it shapes the primary physician workforce, and is a national leader in research about the consequences of medical student debt. Her other research interests include inter-professional education, inter-professional collaboration, and intersections between mental health and primary care. She also leads the Family Medicine clerkship in the Lansing Community and mentors medical students who are interested in family medicine and family medicine research.
MSU Bioethics 