Average person graduating from medical school now is a lot less capable then they were 50 years ago. Doctors now aren't the superstar brainiacs that they used to be (on average)
Being a doctor isn't nearly as prestigious as it used to be - before it was a sign of intelligence - now its more of a sign of tenaciousness - it's a pain in the ass to jump through all the hoops but it's not attracting the best and brightest any more.
Isn't the issue re: US-trained doctors one of limited medical school slots rather than the rigors of the selection process itself? What if it was as accessable as an professional engineering qualification, which is limited by the ability to qualify rather than the number allowed to receive the designation per year (as a result of US medical-school class size)?
>>What specific changes should be made to the MD licensing process in the US to facilitate the practice of medicine by doctors with foreign credentials?<< (Dew)
I don't have any particular medical expertise, but I don't think it should take 2 years or more to find out if a doctor from abroad is competent to practice medicine in this country. You can look at where this doctor got his(/her) degrees and where he did his residency. You can look at letters of recommendation. In iffy cases you can require that the doctor pass a written test, which concentrates on clinical practice rather than checking whether the candidate still remembers some of the irrelevant medical trivia memorized years ago in medical school. And you can require that the foreign doctor spend a few days in a hospital making rounds with a medical evaluator.
I think that's sufficient.
The academic types like pgs will appreciate that this shouldn't be any harder than hiring a good postdoc or faculty member. There are plenty of ways to find out if someone knows their stuff and is competent to work in the field in which they have been trained without requiring them to go back to school for a couple of years ...
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