Subject: Support for Allopathic Medical School in Tarrant County
Introduced by: Tarrant County Medical Society
Referred to: Reference Committee on Science and Education
Whereas, There is a national and Texas physician shortage of most specialties; and
Whereas, Texas lags behind nearly every state in physician supply with 157 physicians in direct patient
care to every 100,000 population compared with the national average of 220:100,000; and
Whereas, The Texas population is expected to grow to over 28 million people by the year 2020, further
exacerbating our physician shortage, especially in the primary care, psychiatric, and geriatric specialties; and
Whereas, Texas currently has nine medical schools, most of which are planning to expand their 10 enrollment size and the newest school affiliated with Texas Tech cost our state approximately $67 million in start up costs ; and
Whereas, The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) affiliated with the University of North Texas also is expanding its enrollment size to 250 per class in order to increase the numbers of medical students who pursue primary care training; and
Whereas, TCOM continues to produce outstanding medical school graduates who perform above the 95 percentile on COMLEX and USMLE testing; and
Whereas, The opportunity for allopathic and osteopathic medical students to train side-by-side throughout their medical school careers does not exist in Texas; and
Whereas, Our current physician practice environment depends upon teamwork to improve patient care; and
Whereas, TCOM will move into a new facility in the coming year in order to provide TCOM students
with the best learning environment; and
Whereas, The former TCOM facilities will be available for remodeling at a significantly lower cost than building a new medical school; and
Whereas, The Fort Worth community has demonstrated strong support for expanding the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, while starting up a new, allopathic medical school, to help assuage the critical physician shortages; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That our Texas Medical Association support development of a new allopathic medical school on the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth campus with zero start-up dollars required from the state, while continuing to advocate for increased graduate medical education training slots.
Resolution 301-A-10
Page 2
Relevant TMA policy:
200.28 Medical School Expansion:
v Given current physician shortages in some medical specialties, projected state demographics, the professional liability crisis, and the decreasing numbers of out-of-state physicians moving into the state, Texas is approaching a physician shortage. This evidence supports a need to consider enhancement of the physician pipeline through expansion of Texas medical school and residency program slots, with more immediate attention needed to expand resident slots.
v Expansions of student and resident slots should be based on a methodology that seeks to address unmet Texas health care needs. There also is the need to stabilize the state’s physician practice environment to improve recruitment and retention and to promote awareness of specialty shortages among medical students. Further, expansions should not jeopardize the viability of existing programs and the outcome of any expansion should be to improve the health care of the people of Texas (Substitute Resolution 28D, p 196, A-96; substitute CME Rep. 6-A-03).
185.005 Physician Shortage: The Texas Medical Association voted to be of assistance to medical education institutions as they address the issue of furnishing an adequate supply of physicians for the citizens of Texas (Res. 28V, p 193, I-92; amended CME Rep. 6-A-03).
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