Since the end of World War II there has been an .almost continuous debate concerning numerous aspects of the medical care industry in the United States. The profound public interest in the provision 'of adequate medical services is reflected in thousands of pages of congressional hearings, countless discussions in popular periodicals and the press, and millions of dollars voted for the construction of hospital facilities, medical research, and aid to the needy for medical care. Given the facts of rapidly growing private medical insurance schemes, the pressure for federally financed medical care insurance for the aged, and sharply rising medical costs-the fastest rising component in the consumer price index' -the issue of medical care is destined to be a major topic for public debate and legislative consideration throughout the current decade. Without minimising the significance of the large number of quantitative and qualitative factors that determine the level of medical care received by the American people, it is self-evident that a key variable in the provision of medical services is the number of physicians. No matter how the costs of medical care are financed, whether through expanded private insurance programmes, the extension of the social security system to include payments for medical care, or more drastically, through the adoption of a full-fledged national health insurance programme, the number of doctors available places a severe limitation on the amount and quality of medical services that can be provided. In recognition of this fact, three major governmental studies-the Magnuson report in I953,2 The Baynes-Jones report in I958,3 and the Bane report in I959,4-called for federal aid for both scholarships or loans to medical students and for the construction and expansion of medical school facilities. Following the recommendations of the Bane report, President Kennedy called on Congress to provide funds which would assist in the construction of twenty new medical schools by I970 and make substantial scholarship assistance available for medical students.5