Americans Studying Abroad

To the Editor.— Last night, after I completed a reading of the article entitled "Americans Studying Abroad" by Donald D. Goldberg, MD (232:632, 1975), I sat and stared into space for what I am sure was an extended period of time, wondering whether or not I had unfairly judged Dr Goldberg's conclusions about the problems of the US foreign medical graduate. As I understand it, Dr Goldberg holds the view that there is a shortage of physicians in the United States (p 632, column 3, paragraph 3), yet the United States should meet its own medical manpower needs (p 635, column 2, paragraph 5); nevertheless, we should encourage our students to study abroad even while recognizing that the certificate or diploma they receive is not the equivalent of the MD degree (p 633, item No. 5 in column 3). Dr Goldberg then makes the point that of course this will