Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the American Medical Association, recently visited Grand Junction, Colorado, which has been touted as having an outstanding and novel medical system. The physicians in the local medical association are committed to providing affordable and exceptional care to patients, and the town integrates its health offerings in new ways. Dr. Atul Gawande writes about another small town, McAllen, Texas, as an innovator in health care in a New Yorker article from 2009, while also citing Grand Junction as a model. Future doctors should read more about what the physicians in these small towns are doing to create models for delivering the best care possible while also keeping costs in check: a win-win combination.

–Liza Thompson, Expert Medical School Admissions Consulting