Combined internships between community hospitals.
For the past seven years the physicians of Pittsfield, Mass, have been engaged in an experiment in graduate medical education. This report states the purpose of the project, describes the initial phases, preliminary results, and discusses the interrelationships between a community hospital and a university medical center. Medical educators agree that the highest quality of education, with few exceptions, is found in the university environment. In 1966, university hospitals accommodated only one half the total number of house officers; the other half were located in nonuniversity hospitals. Since university hospitals cannot soon cope with this problem, an urgent challenge emerges: Community hospital programs, of comparable caliber to the university medical center, must be developed. 1 The Pittsfield Affiliated Hospitals Education Program was devised to produce an educational environment by simulating the university medical center. The Council on Medical Education has been continuously consulted about the objectives and the progress of
Improving community based pediatric residencies by local affiliation.
Abstract 
Community hospital graduate medical education programs have been judged deficient in several areas when compared with university programs. Generally community programs are smaller, they have a greater percentage of foreign house officers and unfilled house staff positions, and their graduates do less well on specialty board examinations. Difficulties may exist in offering a balanced and broad-based educational exposure. Four separate pediatric residencies in Phoenix became affiliated in 1972. The traditional deficiencies have been overcome, and a very popular and well-balanced program has ensued. Additionally, wasteful duplication has been avoided. Disadvantages have included complex scheduling and loss of continual close contact with house officers. Assigning patients to residents for continuity of care has been difficult. Experiences gained in this amalgamation may well apply to other hospitals facing similar problems. Local consortiums, such as this, fit well into university affiliated programs or statewide organizations.
The Graduate Education of Physicians
I AM deeply honored by the invitation to deliver the Shattuck Lecture for 1967 to the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society. I am mindful of the long list of distinguished physicians ...