Health care is demanding increasing resources and attention in numbers of health care workers, in levels of skills required, in time spent in training, and in dollars expended. A greater spectrum of skills is required to cope with increasing health care demands, yet trends toward specialization and fracturing of responsibilities assigned to health care personnel often obstruct opportunity for application of the individual's full range of preparation. In the South, college allied health programs have registered a seven-fold increase in graduates and basic registered nursing programs have doubled, but geographical distribution problems prevent easing of worker shortages. To insure the quality of care, there is a trend to lengthen the educational preparation for entry into many allied health fields, yet there is evidence that many workers are overtrained for the task they perform. Lengthened programs can enhance the quality of preparation, but also raise the total cost of health care. In considering the many current proposals for allied health and registered nurse programs at higher degree levels, postsecondary education should distinguish between needs for selective advanced education versus a general lengthening of entry-level preparation. (LRA)