Yoder hopeful bill will pass to increase jobs for future CMED grads
Three U.S. senators introduced a bill that would increase the number of Medicare-supported graduate medical education residency slots at hospitals by at least 15,000.
The Resident Physician Shortage Act of 2011 would increase the number of residency slots by about 3,000 each year from 2013 to 2017, for a total of 15,000 slots over the five-year period. At least half of the slots each fiscal year will be used for full-time equivalent residents training in a shortage specialty residency program.
Senators Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced the bill to provide for the distribution of additional residence positions across the U.S.
As previously reported by Central Michigan Life, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 set a cap on residencies that limits the number of students who can do residencies. The 1997 act did not reduce residency spots, but it did limit the amount of money Medicare could contribute.
According to the bill, first priority will go to hospitals in states with new medicals schools that received “Candidate School” status from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or “Pre-Accreditation” status from the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation on or after Jan. 1, 2000 and are progressing toward accreditation. First priority also includes additional locations and branch campuses established by accredited medical schools on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
Dr. Ernest Yoder, founding dean of the College of Medicine, said in an email he supports the legislation because it would increase the number of graduate medical education positions.
“This creates the opportunity to expand GME positions to accommodate our graduates and those from other Michigan medical schools,” he said. “The major benefit to CMED is the improved availability of residency positions in our region, facilitating placement of our future graduates.”
Moving Expenses
According to documents obtained by Central Michigan Life through the Freedom of Information Act, a husband and wife team who were recently hired by the College of Medicine are both eligible for moving expenses.
Associate Dean of Medical Education Dr. Linda Perkowski is eligible for a maximum of $7,500 in moving expenses, while her husband, Dr. W. Robert Fleischmann, a professor of microbiology and immunology, is eligible for a maximum of $5,000 in moving expenses.
Lori Hella, interim associate vice president of Human Resources, said Perkowski and Fleishmann are eligible for moving expenses because they are both separate employees at Central Michigan University and belong to different employee groups — Perkowski is a senior officer while Fleishmann is a faculty member.
However, the employee must have the original receipt to receive reimbursement, so only one of them would receive moving expenses, Hella said.
