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.