Medical college group backs legislation boosting residencies

Health reform means a lot of things to a lot of interested parties. To the Association of American Medical Colleges, it won't be complete without language boosting the number of medical residencies supported by the federal government.

The AAMC is heartily in favor of a bill introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), which would boost the number of Medicare-supported residency positions by 15 percent, or about 15,000 openings. The new legislation could make it possible to train as many as 4,000 new residents per year until 2015, cutting down somewhat on the expanding doctor shortage.

The bill would also enable residents to train in non-hospital settings like physician offices, community health centers and assorted other ambulatory care settings, which isn't allowed now.

To learn more about the bill:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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