(03-14-2019 06:56 PM)TFW Wrote:  I know we have just about killed the subject of Rice getting a medical school. The March 2019 issue of Texas Medicine has an article about the number of new medical schools in Texas. There have been three that opened in the last few years and there are three more planned to be opening soon. See pages 26-29 of the digital article for details.

https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?m=55178&l=1#{"issue_id":568844,"page":0}

Seriously, I think Rice is soon going to be the only university in the state without a medical school.

(03-15-2019 09:49 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Looks like a future where it's ever more important to know where your doctor went to med school. Admissions standards are going to have to go way down to provide students for all those medical schools.

(03-15-2019 09:49 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Looks like a future where it's ever more important to know where your doctor went to med school. Admissions standards are going to have to go way down to provide students for all those medical schools.

(03-15-2019 09:49 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Looks like a future where it's ever more important to know where your doctor went to med school. Admissions standards are going to have to go way down to provide students for all those medical schools.

(03-15-2019 11:04 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  The need to increase the supply of physicians in the United States is pretty significant. The US has 2.6 physicians per thousand residents. The average of industrialized nations is 3.5 and the range is between 2.4 (Japan) and 5.1 (Australia). The U.S. is 2nd lowest. Further, the ratio of primary care physicians is roughly 1/3 primary care and 2/3 specialists, when "experts" suggest that the ratio of primary care providers to specialists be about 1 to 1.

(03-16-2019 12:09 AM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(03-15-2019 11:04 AM)Kayjay Wrote:  The need to increase the supply of physicians in the United States is pretty significant. The US has 2.6 physicians per thousand residents. The average of industrialized nations is 3.5 and the range is between 2.4 (Japan) and 5.1 (Australia). The U.S. is 2nd lowest. Further, the ratio of primary care physicians is roughly 1/3 primary care and 2/3 specialists, when "experts" suggest that the ratio of primary care providers to specialists be about 1 to 1.

I've never encountered any difficulty in getting an appointment with a PCP. It's specialists that have the long lines.

Speaking for myself, I'd prefer not to dilute the talent pool just to increase numbers. How do I know - why should I believe - that 5.1 per thousand is a better number than 2.6?

(03-15-2019 09:20 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 06:56 PM)TFW Wrote:  I know we have just about killed the subject of Rice getting a medical school. The March 2019 issue of Texas Medicine has an article about the number of new medical schools in Texas. There have been three that opened in the last few years and there are three more planned to be opening soon. See pages 26-29 of the digital article for details.

https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?m=55178&l=1#{"issue_id":568844,"page":0}

Seriously, I think Rice is soon going to be the only university in the state without a medical school.

And BCM the only med school without a university... :)

(03-16-2019 08:18 AM)TFW Wrote:  

(03-15-2019 09:20 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(03-14-2019 06:56 PM)TFW Wrote:  I know we have just about killed the subject of Rice getting a medical school. The March 2019 issue of Texas Medicine has an article about the number of new medical schools in Texas. There have been three that opened in the last few years and there are three more planned to be opening soon. See pages 26-29 of the digital article for details.

https://www.qgdigitalpublishing.com/publication/?m=55178&l=1#{"issue_id":568844,"page":0}

Seriously, I think Rice is soon going to be the only university in the state without a medical school.

And BCM the only med school without a university... :)

I have no inside knowledge of any kind, but doesn't it just sort of make sense for the Rice-BCM relationship to deepen?

I know... $ and insurance contracts and $ and dealing with the feds (Medicare/Medicaid) and $... still I hope that may happen one day.

(03-15-2019 10:30 AM)greyowl72 Wrote:  Not sure I agree with this at all. I'm pretty engaged with medical school and residency admissions, and I can assure you that there is NO dip in admission standards at all. In fact, getting a decent residency position in some disciplines is incredibly hard. Almost impossible. I doubt that, even with the proposed expansion of medical schools in Texas, there will be any deterioration in admission standards.

(11-17-2020 04:23 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-15-2019 10:30 AM)greyowl72 Wrote:  Not sure I agree with this at all. I'm pretty engaged with medical school and residency admissions, and I can assure you that there is NO dip in admission standards at all. In fact, getting a decent residency position in some disciplines is incredibly hard. Almost impossible. I doubt that, even with the proposed expansion of medical schools in Texas, there will be any deterioration in admission standards.

Residency positions haven't increased meaningfully in decades. I've never understood all these new med schools and no commensurate increase in residency slots, other than to create more 'doctors' (but not physicians) to promote nutritional supplements.

One article I saw said med school enrollment was up 52%, but residencies up only 1%. DOn't remember the time frame... but its not as if we've ever really had trouble finding people willing to take residency slots.

(11-18-2020 11:29 AM)ruowls Wrote:  

(11-17-2020 04:23 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(03-15-2019 10:30 AM)greyowl72 Wrote:  Not sure I agree with this at all. I'm pretty engaged with medical school and residency admissions, and I can assure you that there is NO dip in admission standards at all. In fact, getting a decent residency position in some disciplines is incredibly hard. Almost impossible. I doubt that, even with the proposed expansion of medical schools in Texas, there will be any deterioration in admission standards.

Residency positions haven't increased meaningfully in decades. I've never understood all these new med schools and no commensurate increase in residency slots, other than to create more 'doctors' (but not physicians) to promote nutritional supplements.

One article I saw said med school enrollment was up 52%, but residencies up only 1%. DOn't remember the time frame... but its not as if we've ever really had trouble finding people willing to take residency slots.

Residents are paid. Medical students are not.

(11-18-2020 12:34 PM)ruowls Wrote:  That is the main issue with residents. They are paid employees that don't generate revenue on their own. The encounter is billed by the attending physician through the program. It is not an efficient system to capture charges for services provided. This is why resident positions have not increased because it is a lot more expensive and requires significant subsidy from somewhere else.

(11-18-2020 12:51 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-18-2020 12:34 PM)ruowls Wrote:  That is the main issue with residents. They are paid employees that don't generate revenue on their own. The encounter is billed by the attending physician through the program. It is not an efficient system to capture charges for services provided. This is why resident positions have not increased because it is a lot more expensive and requires significant subsidy from somewhere else.

I agree... but so too do Medical schools. The number and size of grants and tax advantages etc for schools is pretty significant. You could likely fund some residency positions by combining them with the numerous incentives offered for 'hard to staff' places. You can have this residency slot, but you have to do two years practice in Nowhere, California once you graduate. I know lots of them (especially as the number of graduates outpaces the number of slots increases) that would do that or more.

(11-18-2020 01:05 PM)ruowls Wrote:  You are right.
Medicine at times just plain sucks. I actually just got off the phone with a peer reviewer for a patient. I ordered an MRI of the lower back for someone who hurt their back. The other doctor asks if I was a spine specialist or an orthopedist. I guess only orthopedists or neurosurgeons know anything about the back. He pretty much deemed me as unworthy. Must have been my med school.

(11-18-2020 12:51 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(11-18-2020 12:34 PM)ruowls Wrote:  That is the main issue with residents. They are paid employees that don't generate revenue on their own. The encounter is billed by the attending physician through the program. It is not an efficient system to capture charges for services provided. This is why resident positions have not increased because it is a lot more expensive and requires significant subsidy from somewhere else.

I agree... but so too do Medical schools. The number and size of grants and tax advantages etc for schools is pretty significant. You could likely fund some residency positions by combining them with the numerous incentives offered for 'hard to staff' places. You can have this residency slot, but you have to do two years practice in Nowhere, California once you graduate. I know lots of them (especially as the number of graduates outpaces the number of slots increases) that would do that or more.

(11-18-2020 12:34 PM)ruowls Wrote:  That is the main issue with residents. They are paid employees that don't generate revenue on their own. The encounter is billed by the attending physician through the program. It is not an efficient system to capture charges for services provided.