ANOTHER new Texas medical school

[SoonerTexan]

TCU & UNT Health Sciences Center announced their intention today to build a medical school in Fort Worth--alongside an existing DO school. It appears the DOs are none too pleased...and probably for good reason. They are going to be stepping all over each other. And I cannot imagine where they will all rotate.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...e26585644.html

This is the FOURTH new Texas medical school set to open in the next 5 years. Dell Medical School in Austin opens soon--it will undoubtedly be a success because medical school in Austin, duh. Another DO school is proposed in San Antonio. Yet another is being built in the Rio Grande Valley (which honestly is probably the most needed of the bunch as it is a really underserved area, although that certainly doesn't guarantee people will stay there to practice).

Texas already has 9 schools:

UTSW--Dallas
UT Houston
Baylor--Houston
Texas Tech--Lubbock
Texas Tech--El Paso
UTMB--Galveston
UT San Antonio
Texas A&M (Temple, I think)
And the aforementioned UNT DO School

WTH are we going to do with all of these new medical students without a corresponding increase in residency spots? Are other states expanding like this? The reason of "addressing the doctor (specifically primary care) shortage" is always given, but what is the point without new residency spots?

On another note, if you have a kid wanting to be a doctor, consider moving to Texas, but the tuition is cheap and it looks like it is going to be a heck of a lot easier to get into med school here in the next 5-10 years!

[ladymoreta]

I agree it's a terrible idea without a corresponding increase in residencies. I think it comes down to people making decisions who only see the potential profit. They couldn't care less if fewer MDs match, as long as they collect their tuition for four years. And the politicians responsible for the funding for residency programs don't have a clue about medical training

I can see this going the direction of law schools, which create more lawyers than we have jobs for.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Are any of them specializing in FP/IM? I know there's a new med school nearby (VA maybe?) that is allegedly focusing only on certain types of rotations and training. You don't HAVE to match into those but it will be very very hard not to do so. Those types would at least lead to more primary care which is desperately needed.

I think all the politicians are hoping that American medical grads just decide they love primary care and fill those spots (pushing out FMGs) instead of them having to open more spots.

[alotofyarn]

It sounds crazy to me, for all the reasons everybody has already said. Although I am SUPER grateful that hubby was able to go to med school in Texas and take out fewer loans.

By the way, TAMU may still be partially in College Station, I think. I know when hubby was looking I think you did the first 2 years in CS and then you had the option to do the 3rd and 4th years in CS or Temple, but they may have changed that.

[medpedspouse]

Incarnate Word in SA is getting a DO school.

Texas Tech HSC SOM, Lubbock, Amarillo and Odessa all have accelerated programs in FM - rural med. El Paso's is on Border Medicine. They do have a great track record keeping their physisicians.

TAMU HSC SOM, is reverting back to having MS1&2s in College Station and clinical years will split between CS, Temple and Round Rock.

Include the fact that MS1 classes are getting bigger. Still, all indications show that we have too many underserved areas...and need more physicians. Only reason why the Coordinating Board has approved these degrees/schools.

Granted, some of these schools will have new hospital system partnerships and there are residency programs being created. However, there are other hospitals mandating programs to reduce spots by a certain %.

[MarissaNicole]

If training lengthens then essentially there will be an increase in residents, unless they reduce the number in each class.

Nonetheless, seems oversaturated!

Wife of a PGY-6

[ides]

If residencies take no fmg's will there be enough residency spots?

[SoonerTexan]

I think all the politicians are hoping that American medical grads just decide they love primary care and fill those spots (pushing out FMGs) instead of them having to open more spots.

Still the same number of docs coming out every year though

[medpedspouse]

Still the same number of docs coming out every year though

No, more. The classes are growing because "we have a shortage" of physicians in TX.

[SoonerTexan]

No, I mean even if you push out the FMGs (which I don't necessarily agree is a great idea), unless you change the number of residency spots, it still equals the same number of doctors in the end. Or are you saying the hope is more will stay in Texas?

[Cinderella]

We have two new medical schools starting in 2017 in Las Vegas too, University of Nevada Las Vegas Medical School (UNLV-SOM) and Roseman Medical School.

There is already the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas (UNSOM-LV) which is the southern satellite campus for the UNSOM in Reno up North. Plus there is the private DO medical school, Touro University, in Henderson on the border of Las Vegas.

UNLV will be public and MD I think.
Roseman will be private and MD I think.
UNSOM is public and MD.
Touro is private and DO.

The 2017 inaugural class of UNLV-SOM will have their entire medicals school tuition covered. Roseman is doing something similar to this but in a different way.

From talking with my brother who works for the current government's administration in the health care sector he says they're looking at a mass exodus of doctors getting ready to get out of medicine. With many of them either in their 60's and retiring or going into other fields due to the changes with the value based medical reimbursements. The jobs are going to open up across the field. Along with the more medical schools being built it seems that they're tackling the doctor shortages in primary care fields but that the bottle neck still remains in GME training programs until Congress increases that. He's working with some of the governors on that part. Plus I've seen that the new medical schools opening are also working on that in phases with their GME programs in later stages. I think it will come in stages as we all shift to the new system.

He told me a lot more about everything going on across the country regarding health care changes and what he's working on with the technology part of it, but it's kind of overwhelming and blows my mind. Some of the stuff he told me about is with this new value based system the patients are going to be able to look up and rate doctors like a yelp review. I have mixed feelings about that. There's also an app in beta that's going to make it transparent what the fee payments are for procedures at each place with each insurance so patients can decide who to go to. There is also the tele-medicine that is being implemented and a board certification that crossed state lines in the works, so that doctors in other States can see patients online in web chats and diagnosis and prescribe medicine to those living in remote areas. He told me a lot more of what's coming but after an hour I was way in over my head, though he doesn't think so.

[medpedspouse]

Yup, I am sure there will eventually be a shortage. I see several in their mid fifties already getting on the mass exodus bandwagon. Hell, if we could get out of medicine, we would. Sooooo not worth it anymore.