For more information contact: Boonshoft School of Medicine, Judi Engle, Office of Public Relations, (937) 775-2951

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 1997

Wright State tops National Ranking for graduates entering Primary Care

DAYTON, OHIO -- Wright State University School of Medicine continues to rank at the top of the nation's medical schools in terms of graduates practicing primary care medicine, according to a national report published recently by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The AAMC's 1996 Institutional Goals Ranking Report ranked Wright State second among 125 medical schools nationwide in the percentage of its graduates entering primary care practices in family medicine, general internal medicine and general pediatrics. Wright State ranked first in this percentage among Ohio's six allopathic medical schools.

The report surveyed physicians from the graduating classes of 1990-92 who have completed residency training and entered medical practice. Forty-seven percent of Wright State's graduates (115 of 244 physicians) entered primary care practices.
"This ranking is particularly significant because it represents the career choices of medical school graduates when they actually begin their practices," explains Kim Goldenberg, M.D., dean of Wright State School of Medicine. "Over the years, Wright State has ranked consistently high in the percentages of our graduates who choose both to enter primary care residencies and to follow through with primary care practices. "We are proud of our achievement in primary care," he continues. "It demonstrates how Wright State is meeting its mission in achieving an effective balance between generalist and specialist physicians. Credit for our success belongs to the excellent physician role models on our full-time faculty as well as voluntary faculty in the community."

Training more primary care physicians has become a public policy goal for medical schools in recent years. Many experts believe that half of all medical school graduates should enter primary care specialties. A 1995 legislative report produced by the Ohio General Assembly found that only 39 percent of Ohio's medical school graduates entered primary care in recent years.

The annual AAMC report provides the nation's 125 allopathic medical schools (six are in Ohio) with "benchmarks to determine their relative achievement." Primary care is one of the report's five different performance measures that reflect the wide range of institutional goals set by American medical schools.