March 12, 2019 Tuesday
Bedtime Story
Jung versus Association of American Medical Colleges
What would be the most important parameters
that you would look in a student to select him or her for a program assuming
that you are given a free reign in your choice and there is no bias or
corruption from anywhere.
It must be born in mind that not all
specialties are equally sought after, for instance it is possible that some
candidates may see a better future and more fulfilled life in being a
podiatrist than an ophthalmologist.
So the choice is being made from both the
sides.
On average 43,000 applicants that includes
both U.S. citizens and non U.S. citizens compete for placement in 31,000
residency positions every year.
So it becomes a mammoth task to match the
right candidate with the suitable program but Uncle San always finds a way out.
For this purpose it has established yet
another private non-profit non-governmental organization (it is fascinating to
observe how the entire health care in the United States is completely
privatized right from day one and yet still keeping the essence of meritocracy
intact) that is known as National Residency Matching Program.
This in common parlance among the medical
graduates and students is known simply as “The Match”.
Established in 1952 till date it has not
been any charge of corruption or bribery either by any individual or a group
coercing the system in its favor.
The only significant event against it was
an anti-trust class-action lawsuit filed by 16 law firms on behalf of 3
residents in 2002.
The lawsuit was filed not specifically
against the National Residency Matching Program but against the entire medical
system of United States and the lawsuit is now known as Jung vs. Association of
American Medical Colleges.
The primary case was built on the working
conditions of residents and their working compensation and the other being the
number of residency programs available to the physicians.
The case initially garnered some momentum
but eventually collapsed when thanks to intense lobbying by the Association of
American Medical Colleges and the American Hospital Association the Congress
enacted a legislation (passed a rider to an unrelated bill concerning the
Pension Funding Equity Act) that granted specific immunity to the NRMP from
federal anti-trust laws.
When the President George W. Bush signed
this bill containing the rider in 2004 it became a law.
The odd thing was, thanks to powerful
lobbying and funding by the Senators of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the
law was enforceable retroactively.
The Court then was left with no option but
to dismiss the plaintiff’s case under the authority of the new law.
But for this lawsuit the National Resident
Matching Program has remained untarnished and free of corruption.
As a matter of fact even before its
inception when such a matching program was being considered it was debated
whether it would be vulnerable to manipulation.
Stay tuned to the voice of an
average story storytelling chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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