EYE ON EDUCATION
Medical School Applications Increase
College and university enrollment overall dropped in the fall of 2020, but the number of people applying to medical school increased 18 percent compared to 2019, reports the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Officials say the increase is the direct result of the COVID 19 pandemic, which underscored inequities in the delivery of health care and showcased the heroics of front-line workers and high-profile public health figures like Anthony Fauci. “It’s unprecedented,” says Geoffrey Young, AAMC’s senior director for student affairs and programs. In a story prepared by The Hechinger Report and WGBH Boston, Dr. Young compared it to the increase in the number of men and women who entered the military after 9/11. “So far in my lifetime, at least, and for as long as I’ve been in medical education, that’s the only comparison that I could make.” Medical school admissions officers call the phenomenon “the Fauci Effect.” “If it works to get more young individuals into medical school, go ahead and use my name. Be my guest,” says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He’s received hundreds of letters from people telling him they want to practice medicine. By 2033, the U.S. will be short 54,100 to 139,000 physicians, estimates the AAMC, while the proportion of people who are over 65 will grow by an expected 45 percent. More than two out
of every five doctors now practicing will reach retirement age over the next 10 years. Already, there are fewer primarycare providers than needed, noted The Hechinger Report. More than 7,000 areas of the U.S. with a combined population of roughly 82 million people need more internal medicine doctors, family physicians and pediatricians, based on data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. A big deterrent has always been the price of medical school. Based on figures from 2015-’16, medical school graduates finish with $241,560 of student-loan debt, on average, says the National Center for Education Statistics. That figure discourages many would-be doctors, including those from lowincome and ethnic and racial minority groups. Eight percent of medical students are Black and 7 percent are Hispanic. Both proportions are smaller than their share of the population.
Wanted: Qualified Grandma Tutors
GrandmaTutors.com, a division of the Los Angeles-based company Rent-AGrandma, is hiring friendly, mature tutors to work with children in grades K-12 on a broad range of subjects. With so many students around the United States and abroad learning at home, parents have been hungry for reliable help to meet their children’s educational needs. GrandmaTutors allows them to search for fully vetted and qualified “grandmas” in their area, many of whom have a long history of teaching experience, said a company press release. Rent-A-Grandma (rentagrandma. com) was founded in 2011 by Todd Pliss, a licensed “studio teacher” who worked with child stars like the Jonas Brothers. “Grannies” don’t have to be real grandmas, but they must be at least 50 years old. They work as nannies, maintenance staff, pet sitters, chefs, and personal assistants.
Ransomware, Malware and Phishing Threaten Online Ed
The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) issued an advisory late last fall warning K-12 educators of an uptick in cyberattacks, reports Campus Safety Magazine. The attacks, which include ransomware and data theft, are designed to exploit and disrupt distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cyber actors likely view schools as targets of opportunity, and these types of attacks are expected to continue through the 2020/’21 academic year,” says the alert. “The issues will be particularly challenging for K-12 schools that face resource limitations; therefore, educational leadership, information technology personnel, and security personnel will need to balance this risk when determining their cybersecurity investments.” Fifty-seven percent of the ransomware incidents reported involved K-12 schools in August and September 2020 – up from 28 percent January through July, said the agencies. Cybersecruity officials have also observed malware attacks on state, local, tribal and territorial institutions over the last year. Attackers use malware to infect machines and send stolen information to command-and-control centers. Phishing is also becoming common in education, with cyber actors targeting students, parents, faculty, IT professionals and others involved in distance learning operations. “These attacks masquerade as legitimate requests for information via email and trick users into revealing account credentials or other information,” says Campus Safety Magazine.
26 January 2021 — EducationalDealerMagazine.com
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