December 05, 2019
Hello,
McGovern Medical School was established 50 years ago by a driving need to increase the number of physicians for Texas. Today we are the seventh-largest medical school in the nation, accepting 240 students each year, and have graduated more than 8,000 MDs.
In addition to our four-year MD program*, we provide graduate medical training programs for over 1,100 residents and fellows in a variety of specialties each year.
A central question, especially for a state school, is where do these skilled physicians practice their craft? Do they remain in state to serve the citizens of Texas?
According to the latest data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, most graduates remain in Texas. Nearly 60 percent of graduates from Texas medical schools remain in the state to practice medicine. California is the only state in the United States with more graduates who remain in their state after training.
Among students who just pursue residency training in Texas, 59 percent stay in Texas to practice – ranking Texas fourth among states behind California, Alaska, and Montana; 81 percent of those who graduate from both medical school and residency in Texas remain here for their career – putting the state in third place, behind Hawaii and California. Not a bad retention rate!
This retention rate is important as Texas ranks 41st among states for the number of active physicians per population. Moreover, twenty-eight percent of those active physicians are age 60 or older.
We are grateful that this past session, the Legislature continued its investment in Graduate Medical Education (GME) to maintain the 1.1 to 1 ratio of first-year resident positions to graduating students by adding $60 million to the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board’s Graduate Medical Education Expansion Grants for a total of $157 million for FY20-21. This allows our school to compete for grant funding to create new GME positions and continues the funding of positions we have been awarded in the past. Of note, McGovern Medical School has been one of the top recipients of this grant funding in the state.
With new medical schools in Texas, funding for GME positions is more important than ever to retain our medical students and trainees as Texas physicians. After all, this is a tenet upon which our medical school was founded.
Warm regards,
Barbara
*We also educate MD/PhD, MD/MPH, MD/OMFS, MD/MS, and MD/MBA students.
P.S. Please see the attached for those medical school faculty who were recognized at the Faculty Endowment Luncheon recently.
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