Choosing a medical specialty: the difference between what students want and what society needs.

The choice of a specialty by medical students is a complex one that has significant implications for the future supply of physician manpower. The study by Weissman et al. portrays this choice as reflecting the degree of congruence between a student's needs and values and his or her perception of the characteristics of the various specialties. The existing shortages in the supply of various specialists in Israel may be interpreted as signifying a lack of alignment of student needs and perceptions. This commentary will extend the implications of this work to include the connection between students' choices and the physician manpower needs of society, and will focus on primary care physician shortages in the United States as but one example of the implications of these relationships.

The three Tennessees: child and infant health in the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee.

Tennessee consistently ranks low among all states in measures of health. This study was undertaken to examine the differences in child and infant health conditions in the state's three Grand Divisions and the impact of these differences on Tennessee's overall rankings. An analysis of county-level data selected from the Area Resources File demonstrated that, for most measures of infant health and child health, the three divisions ranked very differently and that the overall state ranking did not accurately reflect the conditions in the divisions. Some regions, most often Middle Tennessee, ranked much higher than did the state as a whole; other regions, most often West Tennessee, ranked lower. The single overall state ranking masked these regional differences while suggesting that the entire state had equally low health outcomes. The striking health variations among the divisions that were demonstrated highlight the need to examine health conditions and implement health improvement efforts on a regional rather than a statewide basis.