2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Program to boost AZ doctors
By: Shain Bergan
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
|
More than a hundred new doctors will be trained by University Physicians Healthcare in coming years to help ease the current physician shortage in Arizona.
The UA is teaming up with UPH to create seven new residency programs that are expected to train 118 new doctors over the next three years.
The first of the programs - regarding internal medicine and psychiatry - will begin in July, with the radiology program beginning in the summer of 2009, said Katie Riley, associate director of community and media relations in the public affairs office at Arizona Health Sciences Center.
"We're all very excited about the new programs," said Victoria Murrain, UA assistant dean for graduate medical education.
Although the programs have just been accredited, ideas concerning the need for such a measure began in May 2006 when UPH established the need for residents to undergo additional training to address the physician shortage.
While medical school graduates in Arizona are on the rise, residents have been moving out of state to finish training, resulting in a mass exportation of medical residents, Murrain said.
Because most doctors settle down where they received training, the programs are intentionally designed to give medical residents in Arizona an opportunity to stay in state, she said.
With hospitals assuming the burden of the physician shortage, the effects have been passed down to the patients over the past several years, resulting in long appointment waits and the overworking of practicing doctors, she said.
"We don't know if the programs will fully alleviate the problem," Murrain said, "but we at least want to make an impact for it."
Policy on posting: The Arizona Daily Wildcat would like to offer readers an opportunity to voice their opinions and engage in community conversation. However, readers should refrain from personal attacks or advertisements in their comments. When a reader chooses to participate in the Wilcat's online comments, they should be aware that all comments and postings do not reflect the views of the publication. Links referencing different sources for the sake of discussion are tolerated and encouraged, but comments and links that are posted only to advertise other sites will be deleted at the discretion of the Wildcat.
Be the first to comment on this story