PROFESSIONMedical schools aim to grow rural doctorsPrograms are expected to boost minority enrollment.By Myrle Croasdale, amednews staff. June 28, 2004. A cotton field lies across from the double-wide trailer where family physician Tony Islas, MD, works. In the distance is the Rio Grande. West Texas is a dusty, flat country, and El Paso is no exception. Here, Dr. Islas oversees four clinics run by Texas Tech University in communities along the border called colonias. These unincorporated towns, hacked out of the desert by residents, are built without running water, electricity and sewage systems. Trailer home roofs are dotted with tires to keep them from rattling in the wind. El Paso County has 107 physicians per 100,000 people, according to the Texas Medical Assn., less than half the national average. This shortage of physicians covers most of West Texas, but it's most extreme along the hundreds of border miles that snake their way down to the Gulf of Mexico. One of the reasons for the striking shortage, Dr. Islas says, is the brown factor. Everything here is brown: the people, the food, the landscape. Outsiders face culture shock when they arrive. Physicians find that many of their patients speak little English and don't have health insurance. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements are lower than in areas with higher costs of living. This is the place Texas Tech University is building a new medical school. A shortage of physicians and lack of access to health care in this border area has provided the political will to spend millions of state dollars to remedy these woes. Across the country, public pressure to resolve physician shortages in underserved areas is driving legislators to act. Armed with promises of state funding, medical schools are responding in a variety of ways. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewed
Nov. 23 issueAMA meeting: Delegate vote refines AMA stance on system reform Liability premiums stay stable, but insurers warn this might not last Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoState tort reform ballot wins set stage for further battles Nov. 22, 2004 
|
SHARE
