Med students: New version of AAMC graduation questionnaire now available
The 2005 version of the AAMC Medical School Graduation Questionnaire is now open. Graduating medical student respondents will notice that the GQ now consists of two separate online surveys. The first, the "Program Evaluation Survey," includes questions related to a student's medical school experiences, student support programs and potential problems, including mistreatment. This survey is completely anonymous. The second survey, the "Supplemental Survey on Financial Aid, Career Intentions and Diversity," includes questions related to educational and non-educational debt, specialty practice choice and the cultural environment of the medical school. This second survey requires students to login using their AAMC ID number. Because responses to this survey will include personally identifiable information, students must give consent for their responses to be released back to the medical schools. Both surveys in the 2005 GQ have been reviewed by the Institutional Review Board of the American Institutes for Research. The IRB has ruled that the anonymous "Program Evaluation Survey" is exempt from IRB review and has approved the "Supplemental Survey." For more information, please visit http://www.aamc.org/gq.

AAMC, ADEA launch program to increase diversity
The AAMC and the American Dental Education Association have joined together to serve as the national program offices for the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program. This $12 million effort, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will work to create a more diverse medical and dental workforce and to help reduce disparities in access to health care. The program will select up to 10 accredited medical and dental schools to develop and implement six-week academic enrichment programs for qualified undergraduate college students (potential medical and dental students) who are strong advocates for diversity and/or who come from groups that are underrepresented in medicine and dentistry. Schools applying for the program must submit brief proposals by April 1; full proposals are due June 17. The SMDEP program is an extension of the Summer Medical Education Program, founded in 1988 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered by the AAMC. For more information, please visit http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2005/050302.htm.

Medicare commission releases report on payment policy
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has released its March 2005 "Report to the Congress" on Medicare payment policy. The report makes several recommendations for the Medicare program to begin differentiating among providers when making payments and recommends updates and policy improvements to Medicare payment systems. Among the report's specific recommendations:

• Medicare should pay more for higher quality performance from hospitals, home health agencies and physicians.
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should use measures of quality that reflect the use and functions of information technology systems, beginning in physicians' offices.
• Providers who perform imaging studies and physicians who interpret them should meet quality standards as a condition of Medicare payment.

MedPAC also recommended a payment update for the hospital inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems and for the outpatient dialysis payment system. For more information, please visit http://www.medpac.gov/publications/congressional_reports/Mar05_TOC.pdf.