Senators Seeking Thorough Review Of Graduate Medical Education System.

CQ  (12/23, Norman, Subscription Publication) reports that in a bipartisan effort, seven senators "are asking the Institute of Medicine to do a thorough review of the nation's system of graduate medical education (GME) that funds medical residencies." In a Dec. 22 letter "to the IOM, the senators said they would like to see an independent review of the governance and financing of the GME system, including inequities in funding across states based on their needs and capacity." The letter stated, "We believe our GME system is under increasing stress and the projections for our health care workforce are of significant concern." It added, "There is growing concern that the United States is failing to adequately match medical training with our medical needs on a national level." The authors of the letter were Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Michael D. Crapo (R-ID).