Rethinking Medical Education -- Long Read

I'm not the only one digging around in old blog posts. I received notification of a comment left yesterday to a post published in 2011 at The Health Care Blog. The subject is a policy-level question not likely to receive popular attention, but like most policy-level discussions may be more important than lay people want to admit.
Victor Fuchs is the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., Professor of Economics and of Health Research and Policy, emeritus, an FSI senior fellow and a core faculty member at Center for Health Policy/ Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University. He has written extensively on the cost of medical care and on determinants of health, with an emphasis on the role of socioeconomic factors.

Dr. Fuchs' principal focus is the structural reforms undertaken by ACA, but in this article he reflects on the need for change in how medical professionals are trained and educated.

In the face of such revolutionary changes, how has the structure of medical education adapted? It seems that the answer is hardly at all. Fifty years ago, the basic structure was four years of college, four years of medical school, and three years of post-graduate training. Only after 11 years of post-high school graduation was the physician deemed ready to practice medicine. The same is true today, although a much larger percentage than formerly go beyond 11 years to obtain additional specialized training. And in one medical school I know of fewer than 40 percent graduate in 4 years.

He compares how engineers are trained with how doctors are trained and comes up with some provocative suggestions.
A somewhat long but generally polite and intelligent string of comments follows.
Reader advisory: This is heavy lifting. Don't go to the link unless you have an open mind and time to reflect on the material. A cup of coffee might also be a good idea.