The Senate Committee on Finance met to hear testimony on and discuss the preparation of medical doctors and how the Clinton Administration's proposed health care reform would influence medical education and the supply of health care professionals. Peter P. Budetti, director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), testified on how past federal policy has contributed to the rise of doctors training in specialties and subspecialties and has caused a decline in general practitioners. Jack M. Colwill, representing the Council on Graduate Medical Education, testified that the nation has too few generalists, has a surplus of specialists, and is moving toward a progressive physician surplus, which may impede the ability to move into systems of managed care and may contribute to escalating costs. Debra J. Folkerts, a family nurse practitioner from Kansas, testified on graduate nurse education and other health care reform efforts. Clayton E. Jensen, dean of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, testified on how his institution has responded to North Dakota's health care service needs. The document also includes statements from Senators Orrin G. Hatch, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Bob Packwood and a position statement from the American Academy of Family Physicians. (JB)