How early 20th century closures of US medical schools resulted in drops in mortality

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.