• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Doctor Shortage Target of University of Utah, Intermountain Health Care

Posted on: Friday, 21 January 2005, 15:00 CST

Jan. 21--Doctors tend to work in the state where they were trained, so the University of Utah and Intermountain Health Care will fund 320 new residencies during the next five years at Wasatch Front hospitals.

But the $3 million-a-year investment is only a fraction of what is needed to alleviate the physician shortage in Utah, health officials said Thursday.

By 2020, the country will lack 200,000 doctors, studies predict, and Utah already lags the nation. The U.S. ratio is one doctor for every 350 people; in Utah, it's almost one to 600.

The state would have to hire another 200 doctors a year to keep up with retirements and to care for Utah's growing -- and aging -- population, said David Bjorkman, dean of the U. of U. School of Medicine.

So why the shortage?

For starters, the Association of American Medical Colleges and others wrongly predicted a surplus of doctors in certain specialties and encouraged medical schools to cut back on training, Bjorkman said. That was 10 years ago.

Then, in 1997, the federal government froze the number of residencies it would fund through Medicare, forcing hospitals and colleges to make up the difference from already tight budgets.

Finally, going to medical school is costly -- the average student owes $100,000 upon graduation -- and the profession is not as lucrative as it used to be. Reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid are down, as are payments from commercial insurance companies.

Yet the number of applicants to U.S. medical schools jumped two years in a row, according to the AAMC. Almost 36,000 individuals applied this year -- making expansion of internships all the more urgent, especially in competitive specialties.

Every year, the U. receives 300 to 400 applicants for its 10-12 anesthesiology internships, said Michael Cahalan, professor of anesthesiology and chairman of that department.

"There are many, many students who would train in Utah but don't have a chance," Cahalan said.

The initiative with IHC will fund positions in anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine and psychiatry. The internships will be divided among University Hospital, its Neuropsychiatric Institute, LDS Hospital and Primary Children's Medical Center.

-----

To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com.

(c) 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Salt Lake Tribune

More News in this Category