I’m all in favor of anybody who can hack medical school getting the chance to prove it. Right now, medical schools intentionally limit their students and graduates, to keep the supply of physicians low.
I figure if some States got together their own medical training schools, open to any who pass their standardized tests, the US would finally have enough doctors to have rural doctors. It is worth it enough so that if students make it through their undergraduate work, States should pay for their post-graduate medical studies.
This last part is important, so that they would not become doctors with horrific debt over their heads, but could move right into their practice, so they would get financial stability quickly.
Two solutions to go around the induced shortage:
1. H1B visas for foreign doctors.
2. There are now some insurance plans in the works that pay for a patient to go to India, Mexico, and probably several Asian nations for surgical procedures. Apparently it’s still cheaper even taking air fare and hotel stays into account.
I can see that kind of program, where upon becoming a doctor in a particular state, one would then have to practice in a rural or underserved area for a determined period of time as a “payback” for the education. After that, they would be free to practice where ever.