Bring Back The One Year Rotating Internship

When I did my residency training, I spent one year doing a rotating surgical internship to prepare for a residency in ear, nose, and throat surgery.

During that first year, I spent time on various surgical services like ICU, neurosurgery, orthopedics and general surgery. It was a useful experience not only because it provided exposure to other medical specialties and specialists that sometime overlapped my eventual specialty choice, but also because it exposed me to patients with problems I would not see as a specialist.

I could have also chosen to do a rotating medical internship.

But, things changed and now one year rotating internships are a thing of the past, despite the fact that most states only require one year of postgraduate education to apply for a license.

Consider:

1. There is a need for primary care doctors

2. Several states have liberalized practice laws

3. Almost 9,000 senior medical students don't match

4. There are many international medical graduates who would like to practice in the US

5. Physician entrepreneurs could use the clinical experience

It is time to bring back the one-year internship that might include some loan forgiveness features in exchange for practicing in a shortage area. We're embraced physician extenders. Why not embrace physicians?