“Caveat Emptor:” 'Personal Ambition is Not Answer to North Texas' Physician Shortage

Imagine having a low-cost yet highly effective antibiotic (TCOM DO's) to treat your infection (physician shortage). Then all of the sudden, someone, perhaps with initial good intention, hijacks the drug and tells you he's developing a brand-name medication (MD school) that is  equally as effective as your ole reliable antibiotic (DO school) and it's completely FREE?

Sounds incredible, right? Yet, this is exactly what Scott Ransom, DO, president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth, Texas is proposing. Dr Ransom wants to give Texas and Tarrant County this new prescription (MD-designated medical school) at no cost even though the current one (TCOM’s DO-designated medical school) has been working great for four decades. How nonsensical is that?

Caveat emptor! (Latin for “Let the buyer beware”).

Have you ever heard of getting something for nothing? Dr Ransom’s proposal of giving the state of Texas, Fort Worth and Tarrant County a completely free MD medical school is reminiscent of an old saying, “if something is too good to be true…then beware of the person providing it”.

  

UNTHSC’s president would have you convinced that his new med is totally free at first because he has deep pockets (big, private donors). However, eventually he would have to charge you but only at the same rate (blink! blink!) as your old antibiotic (Cost per MD medical student bears by state would be same as for DO medical student).

Of course, this begs the question, 'What's wrong with my current med (DO- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Program)?". Didn't Dr Ransom concede that the current med is working fine? And in fact, superior (top-ranked medical school) in many respects?

Wouldn’t the 'deep pockets' money be better spent on more of the current antibiotic (expanding DO program) since we definitely know that it's highly effective at treating the infection (physician shortage-notably primary-care docs, what TX and rest of country need most)? Wouldn't you get more bangs for your bucks by buying more of the current antibiotic (increasing number of medical students in current DO school by 100) than developing a brand-new antibiotic (admitting 100 students in a new MD school)? Wouldn’t that save a lot of headache and red tape? One thing for sure, time and money would certainly be better spent.

In life, as in medicine, often the best solution is the simplest one! Let’s not re-invent the (medical) wheel!

President Ransom claims to have all the necessary private funding (some $25 million) to start an MD-designated medical program at UNTHSC. Yet, according to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), a six-year start-up cost of $92 million would be needed. A deficit of some $68 million. So what gives?

Furthermore, the THECB estimates that a fully-operational MD medical school would require an annual general revenue obligation of at least $168 million from the state. Still think it’s free to Texans?  

Caveat emptor… Texas would do well to tell UNTHSC’s Pres, thanks but no thanks on your new prescription (MD program), we will keep what we have (DO program) because we know (and you Dr Ransom have also acknowledged) that it's been working great.

No, Dr Ransom's prescription of an MD (duplicative) medical program is wrong for UNT Heath Science Center, detrimental to TCOM, bad for Fort Worth, unwise for Tarrant County and ultimately, money-not-wisely-spent for Texas.

                                                                                

Creating another medical school (MD) on the UNTHSC campus in order to ‘exorcise one’s inner demons’ is misguided and ill-advised. The duplicative (MD) medical program adds another layer of unnecessary bureaucracy, and burdensome regulatory duplication. All of which would create significant work redundancy and two parallel, top-heavy DO/MD administrations (More chiefs, same number of Indians).

Furthermore, the unrealistic proposed start-up figure means financial resources will eventually be diverted from present programs on campus to cover the substantial shortfall in order to continue this misplaced personal ambition. Given the current climate of declining public resource, this reckless and poorly conceived plan will short-change and negligently harm the current hi-success of the DO medical program.

Tarrant County and Fort Worth already have a nationally-ranked and highly successful medical school (TCOM) and, over the last 40 years, it has served North Texas well. There is no need to ‘re-invent THIS ‘medical school’ wheel’. Messing with this proven, tried-and-trued formula will cost Texas and Texans dearly. Ultimately, North Texans will be ill-served and short-changed by this UNTHSC’s ill-conceived proposal.

In life, as in medicine, if something is working, one does well not to mess with it.

Please don't mess with Texas ...and Texas's TCOM (Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine)!