CMED students to fill regional gaps in licensed care
Many residents of northern and central Michigan are struggling to receive primary health care.
Through partnerships with regional hospitals in rural and urban areas suffering from physician shortages, CMED hopes to ultimately send students into those areas to begin working on a solution.
"Appointment availability is a real problem," said Associate Dean of Clinical Education and Hospital Relations Sean Kesterson. "With a smaller number of doctors, there is a smaller number of patients that can be treated. It's just a normal part of life. If a family in a rural area is not getting access to prenatal care, I think we can all agree there is something wrong with the picture."
Kesterson said the Michigan Department of Community Health compares the number of physicians to population density to determine if it is experiencing a shortage. Most areas contain 300 physicians per 100,000 patients.
In some rural areas, Kesterson said, doctors could be stretched even thinner at 100 or 90 physicians per 100,000 patients.
"That paints a certain picture," he said of the shrinking ratios. "The lower that ratio goes, it begins to pique the need, and those regions are identified as shortage areas."
Kesterson said "virtually all" hospitals in mid Michigan are experiencing shortages. He specifically named hospitals in Gaylord, Petoskey, Bad Axe, Pigeon and Sandusky. Aside from budget reductions, Kesterson also pointed to impending turnover of current doctors ready to retire.
He estimated there will be 6,000 fewer physicians by 2020, and Kesterson hoped CMED students will soon be ready to fill the gaps, once they graduate. He said CMED has more than 30 finalized hospital affiliations in the affected areas, for clinical training during students' third and fourth years at CMED.
"All places we've identified are of interest," Kesterson said. "We want to serve, but also need to an educational experience. We have to match the situations. (The hospitals) are all waiting to hear more."
In order to begin solving the doctor shortage in Michigan, students recruited to CMED were expected to be onboard with the college's mission. Kesterson said many students come from the rural areas affected.
"Obviously, our admission process is designed to select students aligned with the mission," he said. "A lot of them are from rural areas. They tend to be in areas with physician shortages. Where you would find these places, you'll find our students."
He said CMED students should be sent to the regions by 2015, for the inaugural class' third year. Students will engage in a "comprehensive community clerkship," for six months working in the communities they've been assigned.
"You're not here just for medical school, whatever you choose to go into, you have some sort of debt to this region," said Ali Hachem, a member of CMED's inaugural class and vice president of the Medical Student Council. "CMED is very direct about its mission. The shortage over here just drives you to be a part of it. CMED will bear the fruit of the seeds we've planted."
According to CMED's Senior Associate Dead of Administration and Finance Deborah Biggs, the Association of American Medical Colleges first identified the physician shortage and asked medical schools to step in.
Biggs said CMED hopes to address the problem, by recruiting students from the very areas affected, in hopes they will ultimately return home as licensed doctors.
"Where you come from and where you do your training are the biggest predictors of where you'll end up," she said. "By recruiting students from those areas, we're hoping to address this shortage"
