Efforts in the early 20th century to improve the quality of medical education in the United States led to a steep decline in the number of medical schools and medical school graduates. In a new study, researchers examined the consequences of these medical school closures between 1900 and 1930 for the number of county-level physicians, nurses, and midwives, and for infant, non-infant, and total mortality. The closures led to a 4% reduction in physicians per capita and resulted in declines in infant mortality, non-infant mortality, and total mortality, they found.
How early 20th century closures of US medical schools resulted in drops in mortality
