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| The DFW metroplex has the largest concentration of medical students. |
- “Texas has a shortage of physicians, both primary care physicians and specialists. The state currently ranks 42nd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in physician-to-population ratio for patient care. The shortage is now evident in both rural and urban areas of the state. Even though medical liability reforms have brought more than 21,000 new physicians to Texas, we still don’t have enough physicians to keep up with the state’s robust population growth.”[1]
- According to an October 17, 2010 story in the Houston Chronicle, Texas already loses 45% of its medical graduates to out-of-state residencies.[2]
- Texas will lose $200,000 of its investment in each medical student who will move out of state for residency training. As the Texas Medical Association has observed, “It is not good fiscal policy to make a state commitment of $200,000 for each Texas medical student over four years, and then force graduates to leave the state for GME. Those new physicians very likely will never return to Texas.”[3]
- In December 2008, the Texas Health Care Policy Council released a report, “Physician Workforce and Graduate Medical Education in Texas,”[4] in which it analyzed future trends in the supply of physicians, physician training opportunities, and the demand for medical care across Texas. Among the panel’s findings:
Ø “Texas medical school enrollments are at historically high levels. Entry-level enrollments are on track to meet the AAMC’s recommended 30 percent growth rate… In 2007, there were 1,300 Texas medical school graduates but that number is expected to grow to 1,700 by 2012.” (p. 18)
Ø “Of the Texas physicians in DPC [direct patient care], 45 percent trained in Texas medical schools; 32 percent trained in other states; and 23 percent trained in other countries.” (p. 19)
Ø “The majority of Texas’ first-year medical students are in the metropolitan regions of the Metroplex and the Gulf Coast (see Figure 10).” (p. 19)
Ø “Since the passage of medical liability reform in 2003, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) has licensed 10,878 new physicians (see Figure 2). By comparison, 8,391 new physicians were licensed in the four years preceding the passage of liability reform (1999-2002).”
Ø “In 2007, the TMB received a record 4,041 physician licensure applications, and issued a record 3,324 new licenses.” (p. 12)
Ø “The TMB issued 811 more licenses in 2007 than 2006, almost a one-third increase.” (p. 12)
Ø “Texas is a net importer state. In 2007, of the new Texas licensees, 43 percent were from other states, 31 percent were from Texas, and 26 percent were from another country.” (p. 12)
In 2010, Texas had 1,390 residency slots and 1,404 medical graduates (already a surplus of medical graduates compared to residency slots).[5] According to the Texas Health Care Policy Council, the entry-level residency slot total for 2010 is actually less than the 1,481 positions reported in 2007.[6] (p. 21)
According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 2008 “Projecting the Need for Medical Education in Texas” report, the “…state should encourage growth of more first-year residency positions with a goal of 10 percent more first-year, entry-level residency positions than graduating medical students.” To achieve the Coordinating Board’s goal of increasing the number of first-year residency slots by 10 percent more than medical school graduates, an additional 150 first-year entry residency positions are needed by 2012. This important step has not yet been done. (p. 32)
[1] Texas
[2] Ackerman, Todd. “Medical emergency: Keeping doctors in Texas.” Houston Chronicle, October 17, 2010. URL: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7251540.html.
[3] Texas
[4] Texas Texas
[5] Ackerman, Todd. “Medical emergency: Keeping doctors in Texas.” Houston Chronicle, October 17, 2010. URL: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7251540.html.
[6] Texas Texas
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