Med School Enrollment

Medical schools nationwide should reduce their enrollments by at least ten per cent to avoid an expected surplus of 70,000 physicians by 1990, a congressional advisory committee recommended this week.

Dr. Oglesby Paul '38, director of admissions of the Medical School, yesterday called the report "timely and valid," but said the school has no "immediate plans" of admitting fewer than the usual 165 students.

The study does not suggest methods for federal enforcement of its recommendation, but Paul said the government "may reduce or even eliminate" federal funding for medical schools.

He added that per-capita federal funding has decreased in recent years.

Dr. Rashi Fein, professor of economics of medicine, said yesterday he favors federal measures encouraging reduced enrollment, but added they could hurt minority and women applicants' chances of admission. "The ones who will be left out are the groups who have just begun being admitted," he said.

The report also predicted "marked uneveness in the geographical distribution of physicians" and substantial imbalances among the specialists" and suggested the use of monetary incentive to correct the imbalance