This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert November 18, 2009 Addressing Physician Shortages According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), 250,000 active physicians will retire by 2020. Addressing this shortfall will be a daunting task. Fortunately for the United States, medical school enrollment has reached a record high. A recently released study conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that enrollment in 2008 increased 1.6 percent over the previous year, resulting in a record-high 18,036 first-year medical students. The study found that the total number of applicants reached 42,315, and the almost 32,000 first-time applicants was also a record high. Remarkably, the number of first-year Hispanic medical students increased by 10 percent, while African Americans made up 7.2 percent of new students---the same rate as the previous year. Moreover, according to the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette", since 2003, first-year enrollment has increased by 10 percent or more in 49 US medical schools. Darrell Kirch, AAMC's CEO, believes the growth to a higher capacity at medical schools is related to the establishment of new branch campuses across the country. In addition, the increase in positive portrayals of physicians in popular culture, including in television show, like "Grey's Anatomy", "House", and "Mercy" has happily had an affirmative effect on young people wanting to join these professions. Dan Scheirer, associate dean at Duke University's Trinity College, said the Iraq war and the September 11 attacks have affected applicants' views of the world. Applicants "are in a world that is changing and scary and unstable and they see medicine as a stable career", Scheirer added, "It is a way of working out anxiety and doing something for the benefit of mankind". In another attempt to address the shortages, the US Congress is considering legislation that could worsen the current brain drain of doctors and nurses from poor countries. Global health advocates believe the worst affected will be African countries like Ghana, Ethiopia, and Uganda. Domestic workforce development would be a better, though longer-term, approach. Clearly, there is an urgent need to promote the physician professions to young people worldwide, because even with increasing enrollments, physician shortages will have devastating consequences on humanity. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

[ Home · About · Products · Resources · Media ]

Web site design by WebEditor Design Services, Inc.