ATLANTA — The House Medical Education Study Committee held the first in a series of meetings on September 16 at Mercer University in Macon. At this meeting, the committee heard testimony from the Georgia Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce (GBPW), and faculty and students of Mercer University’s School of Medicine.
“I am pleased to begin this committee’s study of ways in which we can support medical education in Georgia, retain more Georgia educated practitioners, and determine the best way to fund these efforts,” said Rep. Butch Parrish, Chairman of the Medical Education Study Committee. “At our first meeting, we heard a range of statistics concerning medical education in Georgia, as well as possible solutions to ensure that we have enough doctors to meet our needs in the future. I look forward to continuing our meetings around the state and hearing from stakeholders of this important issue.”
The committee heard testimony and statistics that reinforced the need to evaluate medical education including the following data:
• Georgia ranks 39th nationally in physicians per capita
• Of 159 counties, there are 66 without a general surgeon, 79 without an obstetrician or gynecologist, and 63 without a pediatrician.
• Student debt is a main driver of the shortage of primary care physicians. Furthermore, on average, students leave medical school with $145,000 and $180,000 in loans,
• In ten years the proportion of medical graduates with loans in excess of $200,000 has grown from three percent to 30 percent. Moreover, a primary care physician can expect to earn half as much as a specialist, making a career in primary care unaffordable for many aspiring doctors.
The committee will hold its next meeting on Thursday, October 2, 2014 in Savannah. At this meeting, the committee will hear information related to the effects of national policy issues on our ability to train providers, and how technology is changing practice patterns and clinical training. The members will also hear directly from medical residents on how and why they chose to go into their respective fields and why they chose to practice in Georgia.
The House Study Committee on Medical Education was created by House Resolution 1722. The committee is charged with identifying ways to bolster medical education within the state and retain more Georgia educated practitioners.
For more information on HR 1722, please click here.
Representative Butch Parrish represents the citizens of District 158, which includes portions of Bulloch, Candler, Emanuel, and Jenkins counties. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 1984, and currently serves as the Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health. He also serves on the Banks & Banking, Economic Development & Tourism, and the Rules committees.
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