When David Keith, MSPH, DO, completed medical school in June, he may have been one of the first to graduate from a 3-year curriculum in the United States since US medical schools started offering the abbreviated option in the 1970s.^[1]

He is among the first graduates of the Primary Care Scholars Pathway at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in Erie, Pennsylvania. Begun in October 2007 as a response to declining interest in primary-care careers, the year-round program condenses the 4-year medical school curriculum into 3 years for selected students interested in primary care.

"It was rigorous," said Dr. Keith about the program, which blends independent-study courses and faculty mentoring with clinical rotations that start in the second year. He often stayed late to observe his mentor with patients because "I wanted to get more out of my 3 years than most students get in 4 years."

Dr. Keith believes he made the right decision in choosing the accelerated curricular path. After receiving his first choice for a family-medicine residency, he said, "I feel prepared for residency." The only things he "lost," he said, were 6 elective rotations [that are part of the 4-year track] and vacation time. "But I saved $50,000," Dr. Keith said. "I think a 3-year medical school program is a great idea."

Whether medical schools should shorten their curriculum to 3 years has been the subject of recent debate since Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine announced it would start a 3-year MD program in July 2011.

The whole article can be found at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725220?src=mp&spon=25&uac=50216SG

Pearls of the day:

• Our aging population faces a continuing shrinkage of primary care
• The fast-track MDs will not be available or ready until 3 years
• TCM schools have much to offer for the insufficiency in primary care
• A 4-5 year integrative medical education program is in demand
• There is a need of integrative primary care residency and fellowship