The hidden future supply of foreign medical graduates.

The number of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) as reported by the American Medical Association (AMA) has registered increases in recent years far exceeding the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) published forecasts. The DHHS projections of new entrants have been derived from the number of postgraduate year-one positions filled by FMGs. Apparently, the FMG supply is augmented by physicians who enter by other paths.

Estimates of physician requirements for 1990 for the specialties of neurology, anesthesiology, nuclear medicine, pathology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and radiology. A further application of the GMENAC methodology.

The Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee (GMENAC) adjusted needs-based model for determining physician requirements was applied to the specialties of anesthesiology, neurology, nuclear medicine, pathology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and radiology, which had not been completed at the time of the original GMENAC final report. Physical medicine and rehabilitation continues to be projected as a shortage specialty; anesthesiology is in near balance. Neurology and pathology are no longer projected to be specialties of oversupply, but rather to be in near balance.

Prescription data processing--its role in the control of drug abuse.

Prescriptions in an outpatient setting were kept on file for immediate recall by computer terminals. Drugs with abuse potential were found to make up 33.6 percent of all prescriptions, and 12.