Teaching Health Centers: Targeted Expansion For Immediate GME Reform

We describe examples of current or proposed programs which illustrate the potential of these modifications. Need for Immediate Targeted GME Expansion in Primary Care There is broad agreement on the need for adequate numbers of physicians prepared to work in primary care, geriatrics and psychiatry in urban and rural underserved areas. A 12,000-31,000 shortage over current primary care physician supply in the next ten years is anticipated, depending on modeling considerations such as physician retirement rates and entrance of advanced practice nurses to take up some of the duties physicians currently perform. Regional and state level supply and demand varies greatly: demand could exceed baseline supply in some areas by more than 10 percent. Advantages of THC Primary Care Training Several legislative GME expansion proposals have been circulated, but none have gained support among most stakeholders, in part because they do not adequately target primary care. Expansion and modification of the THCGME program addresses the consensus issues that major stakeholders -- including the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Medical Association (AMA), and Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) -- agree are needed, including primary care training and physician distribution issues. In its 22nd report (2014), COGME reiterated its call for expanding the proportion of resident training time spent in ambulatory and community settings incorporating new comp...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Health Policy Lab Health Professionals Organization and Delivery Graduate medical education teaching health centers THCGME Source Type: blogs