Amid concerns of a predicted physician shortage, students and residents continue to call on Congress to increase support for graduate medical education (GME) funding—and their persistence has produced a national effort. See for yourself. Here’s a look at the numbers and facts on #SaveGME Week.
More GME positions are necessary to ensure there are enough physicians to meet the nation’s health care needs, according to a report by the AMA Council on Medical Education. The United States’ current physician workforce won’t be enough to care for patients under expanded insurance coverage and with an aging population.
Yet funding for residency programs in most states does not reflect this need, leaving students to progress through medical school with the stress of wondering whether they’ll find themselves unmatched or without a clear path to advance their training.
As a result, students have taken control of their own futures by sending a powerful, unified message to Congress to Save GME. Make sure you’re up to speed on the latest numbers and figures around this national campaign:
- 90,000: The physician shortage number experts predict the country could reach by 2025 if more residency program positions aren’t created.
- 33,000: The number of emails and phone calls Congress already has received from students and physicians, calling on them to protect the future of physician training.
- 40: The percent of U.S. charity care that’s provided by residents at teaching hospitals. It adds up to roughly $8.4 billion in care annually.
- 6: The number of states—California, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, North Dakota and Oregon—that have passed legislation in 2015 to support more GME funding and proactive plans to curb physician shortages.
- 1: Voice, email or tweet is all it takes to stand in solidarity and support your peers in saving GME.
What you can do
- Contact your lawmakers by email or phone, and tell them to save GME.
- Read the 4 things students should know about the new federal GME bill.
- Share your support by tweeting using #SaveGME or posting to the AMA medical students’ Facebook page.
- Change your social media profile picture to the image pictured at right to show your solidarity in calling on Congress to Save GME.
