Republished from the AMA-MSS

Available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/5349.html

The MSS Task Force on Medical Education Debt reviewed data that were compiled over the last 20 years from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the federal government, and other sources concerning the cost of medical education and the debt burden of medical students.

Key findings include: the average graduating medical student debt has been rising faster than the consumer price index (CPI) for the past 20 years, and tuition at public and private schools has been growing faster than the CPI over these same 20 years.

If left uncontrolled, these exorbitant amounts of debt may cause shifts in specialty choice, increase burnout and decrease the numbers of minorities in medicine. Read the full story