Metro Detroit surgeon pens popular blog on medical training in U.S.

The U.S. needs doctors. Medical schools are accepting more students. But residencies aren't. It's a conundrum explained by a metro Detroit plastic surgeon . Excerpt: "The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) couples prospective applicants with residency programs, sort of like a medical version of eHarmony. Each applicant makes a list ranking the residency programs in their order of desirability. The residency programs do the same with the applicants, and the NRMP matches them up. Not all graduating medical students get matched. According to the NRMP, last year 971 graduates of U.S. medical schools were shut out, accounting for 5.9% of U.S. grads. Graduates of international medical schools fared even worse – less than 50% of them obtained a residency. That means more than 7,000 doctors were left with a diploma that said “M.D.” but no guarantee they would be able to use it.' Read the blog and the spirited comment conversation here.