Congress Designates June 23-27, 2025, as 'Academic Medicine Week' to Highlight Doctor Shortage Crisis

This resolution is a formal high-five from Congress, designating the week of June 23 through June 27, 2025, as “Academic Medicine Week.” The bill’s main goal is to officially recognize the massive, multi-faceted contributions that academic medicine—meaning medical schools, teaching hospitals, and research institutions—make to the country. It’s essentially a piece of legislation that says, “Hey, these folks are doing important stuff, and we should pay attention to how we support them.”

The Four Pillars of Academic Medicine

Academic medicine is a huge engine with four critical gears that keep our healthcare system running. First, they train the next generation of doctors and nurses—over 70% of medical residents get their training through institutions affiliated with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Second, they are the primary drivers of medical research, handling roughly 60% of all non-government NIH-funded research. Third, they provide the highly specialized, complex care that local hospitals often can’t handle. Finally, they are deeply involved in community health efforts. This resolution emphasizes that cutting funding in one area, like research, inevitably hurts the others, like training and patient care, because these missions are completely intertwined.

Why This Matters for Your Next Doctor's Appointment

While designating a week might sound symbolic, the resolution ties directly into a very real problem: the impending doctor shortage. The bill points out that by 2036, the U.S. could be short up to 86,000 physicians. If you live in a rural area or an underserved community, this shortage is already affecting your wait times and access to specialists. The resolution specifically supports two federal solutions to tackle this: increasing Medicare support for graduate medical education (GME) slots, which are crucial for training new doctors, and supporting Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs that use scholarships and mentorship to bring students from underserved backgrounds into medicine. For the average person, this means Congress is acknowledging that funding the training pipeline is essential to ensure you can actually see a doctor when you need one in ten years.

Economic Footprint and Veteran Care

Beyond training and research, the resolution highlights the sheer economic weight of academic medicine, noting that in 2019 alone, it contributed over $728 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported more than 7.1 million jobs. If you work in a city with a major teaching hospital, you know these institutions are massive local employers. Furthermore, the bill recognizes the nearly 79-year partnership between these academic centers and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which makes the VA the largest single provider of medical training in the nation. This partnership ensures that veterans receive advanced care while simultaneously training the doctors of tomorrow. So, while this is a non-binding resolution, it acts as a strong political signal that federal support for these institutions—which train our doctors, find our cures, and employ millions—is considered vital infrastructure.