Somewhat suddenly, Boston University’s school of medicine has in hand 12,024 applications from students hoping to become MDs. It only has 110 seats. Across the country, Stanford has 11,000 applicants for 90 openings.
Too many applicants is a good problem to have, especially in a time of looming physician shortages, and in 2020 it has a name: the “Fauci effect.”
“[P]eople people look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, ‘You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference,’” Kristen Goodell, MD, associate dean of medical-student admissions at BU, tells NPR.
Asked about the naming of the effect, Fauci says it’s “very flattering.”
However, he suggests, a more realistic scenario is that the surge is “the effect of a physician who is trying to and hopefully succeeding in having an important impact on an individual’s health, as well as on global health. So if it works to get more young individuals into medical school, go ahead and use my name. Be my guest.”
That would be good, as the U.S. has been heading toward a deficit of as many as 139,000 physicians by 2033, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
“Everyone feels some sort of responsibility,” Mary Grace Kelley, a medical assistant who has decided to restart her stalled pursuit of an MD, tells NPR. “There’s definitely a call to arms thinking that, if there’s another pandemic, it’ll be up to us.”
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.