The goal has always been claimed to be Patient Safety with improved outcome and fewer complications. In addition there has been an increasing concern with the amount of care reaching people who have not previously been in the mainstream of the traditional concept of Medical Care. The most common cause of these deaths were medication errors in hospitals. As a frame of reference, the ten year Vietnam War cost approximately 55,000 lives and about 50,000 lives are lost each year in traffic accidents. Not so subtle ads for prescription drugs appear on TV with pleas for patients to pressure Physicians to order that medication.
Perception becomes reality and reality become perception.
To increase the number of Anesthesiologists, it will require a much more intense involvement with Medical Students. Competition for Medical Student curriculum time will be intensified as specialty Residency positions are reduced as mandated by federal governmental central health policy. The future has become the prologue to the present. It is our responsibility as a University Department to help today's Students transform themselves into tomorrow's leaders. New problems require new solutions.