This year the number of medical school applicants in the US has jumped 18%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
The Fauci effect?
Some school admissions officers are attributing the surge in applicants to become a doctor to Anthony Fauci, the cool, calm and collected director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
There may be some truth to that idea, but the reality is probably a little more boring — simply that public health has been at the forefront of people's minds a lot more than usual this year. Indeed, Geoffrey Young, the AAMC senior director who first reported the news on NPR, said that it's a similar situation to 2001, when "after [Sept. 11], there was a huge increase in the number of men and women that were entering into the military".
For the aspiring doctors... this is probably not great news. 18% more applicants in a field that's already super competitive doesn't feel great, particularly when each applicant makes on average 17 applications. Good luck to them all.
