Fact sheet on Georgia's medical schools [Jan. 2012]

Georgia Board for Physician Workforce Fact Sheet on Georgia's Medical Schools
January 2012
This fact sheet highlights key elements related to Georgia's medical schools and provides answers to the following questions:
What are Georgia's medical schools doing to help meet the need for more physicians? How much does it cost to attend medical school in Georgia today compared to six years ago? How do
Georgia's in-state tuition rates compare to the national average and what proportion of medical students are Georgia residents?
Are the graduates of Georgia's medical schools entering needed specialties? Do Georgia's medical school graduates rank Georgia's GME programs through the National Resident
Matching Program?
Are graduates of Georgia's medical schools practicing in Georgia? What impact will medical school expansion have on Georgia's physician workforce and where should the
state focus its energy and resources in the future?

What are Georgia's medical schools doing to help meet the need for more physicians?

All five medical schools in Georgia are increasing medical student enrollment in response to the need for more physicians. As shown in Table 1, medical school enrollment has increased from 1,515 students in 2000-2001 to 2,377 students in 2011-2012. This equates to a 56.9% increase over the last 11 years. By 2020, the total student enrollment is expected to increase another 35.0% to 3,210 medical students if all the schools fully implement their expansion plans. Mercer and Morehouse have the greatest percentage increase of projected enrollment through 2020.

Medical School

Past Enrollment: 2000/2001

Table 1 Georgia's Medical Schools Past, Current, & Projected Enrollment
2000-2020

Past

Past

Past

Current

Enrollment: Enrollment: Enrollment: Enrollment:

2006/2007 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012

Percentage of Total Students Trained
2011/2012

Projected Enrollment:
2020

Emory MCG and MCG/UGA Partnership Campus

439

455

517

533

518

21.8%

600

711

734

762

802

852

35.8%

1110

Mercer

212

246

311

351

387

16.3%

560

Morehouse

153

210

213

Philadelphia

College of

Osteopathic

Med., GA

Campus (PCOM)

0

168

341

TOTAL ENROLLMENT(1)

1515

1813

2144

Percentage

Increase in

Enrollment over

Previous Period

19.7%

18.3%

(1) Enrollment figures provided by the medical schools.

221
343 2250 4.9%

230

9.7%

400

390 2377

16.4% 100%

Not 5.6% Applicable

540 3210
35.0%

How much does it cost to attend medical school in Georgia today compared to six years ago? How do Georgia's in-state resident tuition rates compare to the national average and what proportion of medical students are Georgia residents?

Table 2

Tuition Rate Comparison by Georgia Medical School

For the Six Year Period 2005-2006 & 2011-2012

Medical School

Tuition Only

Tuition Only

Percentage

For Incoming Freshman For Incoming Freshmen Increase Over

Academic Year

Academic Year

Past 6 Years

2005-2006

2011-2012

Emory Univ. School of Medicine

$36,000

$45,000

25.0%

Medical College of Georgia (MCG)

$11,850

$24,726

108.6%

Mercer Univ. School of Medicine

$30,220

$41,457

37.2%

Morehouse School of Medicine

$24,000

$36,903

53.8%

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic

$33,587

$40,812

21.5%

Medicine (GA Campus)

Sources: Tuition for Georgia residents obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Tuition and Student Fees Reports 2011-2012 and 20052006; fees are not included in the tuition totals. PCOM tuition figures were provided by the school.

The cost to obtain a medical education continues to rise. According to the AAMC Tuition and Student Fees Report for 2011-2012, the average tuition cost for an in-state resident attending a public medical school is $24,566 in 20112012. The average tuition for residents attending private medical schools in their home state is $42,811. The average tuition at Georgia's private medical schools is $41,043.

A large percentage of students currently enrolled in Georgia's medical schools are residents of the state. Mercer University School of Medicine only accepts Georgia residents, making the rate 100%, followed closely by the Medical College of Georgia where 97.8% of medical students are in-state residents. The proportion of Morehouse School of Medicine students who are Georgia residents is 53.0%, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine's (GA Campus) rate is 46.2%, and Emory's University School of Medicine's proportion of in-state residents is 31.5%.

Are the graduates of Georgia's medical schools entering needed specialties?

Georgia's medical schools are producing
graduates who enter primary care and other needed core specialties such as Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, and General Surgery.
Over the last 5 years, Morehouse had
the highest percentage of graduates entering primary care and core specialty residency programs at 72.1%. Mercer's rate was 55.4% followed by Emory at 52.5%, and MCG with 51.7%. PCOM's rate was 57.3% for the School's first three graduating classes.

Table 3

Medical School Graduates Entering Primary Care &

Core Specialty GME Programs by Medical School

Fiscal Years 2007-2011

Medical School

% of Graduates Entering a Primary

Care or Core Specialty Residency

Program upon Graduation from

Medical School

Emory

52.5%

MCG

51.7%

Mercer

55.4%

Morehouse

72.1%

PCOM (2009-2011 only)

57.3%

Source: As reported by the medical schools; reflects specialty selection for 1st year of residency training for those graduates entering GME.

The GBPW's 2011 survey of Georgia's medical school graduates found that when selecting a specialty, the respondents were most influenced by "Lifestyle". "Mentors and Role Models" was reported as the second most important factor when choosing a specialty followed by "Options for Fellowship Training". The majority of respondents to the 2011 survey indicated "Medical Education Debt" had little to no influence on their selection of specialty. "Competitiveness of Specialty" and "Family Expectations" were also ranked as having a low degree of influence on specialty choice. Source: Georgia Board for Physician Workforce 2011 Medical School Graduate Survey.

Do Georgia's medical school graduates rank Georgia's GME programs through the National Resident Matching Program?

In 2011, 93.6% of Georgia's medical school graduates matched to a residency program in the United States through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Of the respondents to the Georgia Board for Physician

Workforce Medical School Graduate Survey, 41.5% ranked one or more of Georgia's GME programs in their top three choices during the match.

Medical School

Table 4 Medical School Graduates by Percent that Ranked One of More
Georgia GME Programs in their Top Three Choices GBPW Medical School Graduate Survey, 2011
Percent of Survey Respondents

Emory School of Medicine Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University Mercer University School of Medicine Morehouse School of Medicine Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Med. GA Campus (2009-2011 only)

48.9% 36.6% 43.1% 54.1% 30.2%

Are graduates of Georgia's medical schools practicing in Georgia?

The AAMC State Physician Workforce
Data Book (Nov. 2011) reported the average national retention rate for medical school graduates was 38.6%.
Georgia's medical schools currently
have a collective average retention rate of 46.3%, which is down from 48.0% in June 2005.
Mercer has the highest retention rate
of graduates practicing in Georgia at 57.8% followed by MCG (51.1%), Morehouse (45.5%), and Emory (36.9%).

Table 5

Physician Retention by Georgia Medical School

as of July 2011

Medical School

% of M.D. Graduates Practicing in
GA

% of M.D. Graduates Practicing in the
Contiguous* States

Emory

36.9%

24.1%

MCG

51.1%

25.7%

Mercer

57.8%

24.0%

Morehouse

45.5%

18.4%

Source: AMA Directory of Physicians in the United States: 2011 CD-ROM. *Contiguous states North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, & Florida

What impact will medical school expansion have on Georgia's physician workforce and where should the state focus its energy and resources in the future?

The collective contributions of all five medical schools must be considered in evaluating the impact of
expansion efforts on Georgia's physician workforce.
Expansion initiatives already underway at the five medical schools in Georgia are significant. If these efforts
were discontinued, there would be a serious long-term negative effect on the state's medical education infrastructure and Georgia's physician workforce.
It is important for the state to maintain the commitment to undergraduate medical education; however,
expanding medical school enrollment alone will not meet Georgia's need for physicians.
Georgia must invest in expanding graduate medical education capacity (residency training positions) based
on the expanding medical school enrollment physician workforce needs of the state by expanding existing GME programs as well as adding new GME programs in the State.

Georgia must also invest in incentives to attract physicians to practice in the state such as salary supplements
for Georgia medical school graduates entering Georgia primary care residency programs, additional loan repayment funding for physicians practicing in rural and underserved areas of the state, additional scholarship funding for medical students who agree to practice in rural and underserved areas in Georgia, additional tax credits, and tort reform.

Georgia Board for Physician Workforce 2 Peachtree St., N.W., 36th Floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, (404) 656-3913 www.gbpw.georgia.gov Cherri Tucker, Executive Director. Colette Caldwell, Carla Graves, and G.E. Alan Dever, M.D., Ph.D., contributors.