Prologue: The nation's medical education system has grown dramatically over the past several decades, a consequence of society's abiding commitment to the medical model Through the particular encouragement of federal subsidies, the number of medical schools increased from 88 to 127 and total enrollment rose from 21,379 to a peak of 67,443 in 1983–1984; enrollment in 2986–1987 was 66,142. During the 1980s, when many other sectors of the health sphere were being subjected to dramatic change, the status quo largely prevailed in medical education, although pressures for reform began to build. In this lead essay, Robert Ebert and Eli Ginzberg discuss the evolution of medical education and offer a prescription for its reform. Ebert is a particularly appropriate figure to survey the changes he believes are necessary to prepare medical education for the twenty-first century. His career spans the deanship of Harvard Medical School, the presidency of the Milbank Memorial Fund, and now a post as an adviser to the pr...