Texas Health to increase Graduate Medical Education Offerings

Texas Health Resources announced Dec. 10 that it will significantly increase its graduate medical education (GME) commitments to help address the shortage of physicians in the Metroplex, increase access to convenient care and improve quality and health outcomes for North Texans.

Dallas-Fort Worth has fewer residency slots per 100,000 people than Chicago, Houston, New York and Los Angeles, THR said in a news release.

With an aging physician workforce in North Texas and among the highest numbers of uninsured and medically underserved in the country, this investment in GME slots will allow Texas Health to address many critical access issues facing consumers in Texas Health’s service area, the announcement said.

According to a study by the American Association of Medical Colleges, the United States will face a shortage of between 42,600 and 121,300 physicians by 2030. A primary care physician shortage of 21,100 to 55,200 physicians is projected by 2032.

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Texas Health’s GME program will focus primarily on training more physicians in the primary care specialties such as internal medicine, family medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology, as well as in general surgery, psychiatry and emergency medicine.

“This is another step in Texas Health’s vision of partnering with our communities for a lifetime of health and well-being,” said Barclay E. Berdan, FACHE, chief executive officer.

“Since residents often continue their careers where they train, we expect this effort will help our communities for decades to come. These residents also will help expand the services we can provide to the community inside our hospital walls, in our clinics and other patient care settings,” Berdan said.

The graduate medical education program will roll out over the course of the next three years, culminating in more than 350 residents working in Texas Health hospitals across North Texas.

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Today, the system has more than 40 residents working at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Residents will begin working at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth in mid-2021 with additional hospital and outpatient continuity clinics and locations following afterward.

In addition to working in urban settings, Texas Health expects residents to rotate to rural and underserved communities, such as Erath County.

“Creating residency programs benefits consumers, enhances our culture of excellence by promoting lifelong learning and expanding continuing medical education opportunities for physicians on the medical staffs,” Jeffrey Canose, M.D., chief operating officer and senior executive vice president of Texas Health, said in the announcement.

www.TexasHealth.org

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– FWBP Staff