The American Medical Association says the country could be short of 35,000 to 125,000 doctors, hitting rural areas especially hard.
ST. CLOUD, Minnesota — When it comes to health care in rural communities, in some cases people have to wait months just to get things like physical exams, while some have to travel miles to see a specialist.
The American Medical Association says the country could be short of 35,000 to 125,000 doctors, hitting rural areas especially hard.
But a new medical school in Minnesota hopes to change that.
In towns like Sauk Centre, where Dr. Jamie Hammerbeck is a rural physician with CentraCare, is witnessing this firsthand.
“I’m spread out in different ways,” he said. “I work in the clinic, I also work in the emergency room, I also work in the hospital… I deliver babies.”
“Some communities of course have to restrict access to certain specialized procedures, midwifery. Having babies is one example, surgeries are another,” said Dr. Ken Holmen, president and CEO of CentraCare. .
The rural doctor shortage is expected to increase by 80,000 nationwide over the next seven years.
These startling statistics are behind the launch of a brand new medical school in Minnesota for the first time in 50 years.
“If we create a rural educational environment, people who are educated there are much more likely to practice there and make a living there,” Dr Holmen said.
CentraCare is a St. Cloud, Minnesota-based healthcare system that plans to partner with the University of Minnesota Medical School to expand education and training, placing medical students in the heart of rural Minnesota with three main purposes.
“More doctors, more nurses, improve the health of our citizens and invest in our communities,” said Dr. Holmen.
Investments which, Dr. Hammerbeck hopes, will pay off in the long run.
“One day I’m going to want to retire and therefore have a resource like that available to not only, you know, train rural doctors, but then hopefully they’ll want to work in rural areas – that’s the whole lens,” Dr. Hammerbeck said.
When asked why she thinks there is such a great need for more rural doctors, Dr Hammberbeck replied: “Because it’s hard. Because there aren’t enough people , so if we have more people, it will make the work more feasible, more sustainable.”
“It will increase over time, but we are very pleased that this is a remarkable opportunity for central Minnesota, rural Minnesota as a whole, to achieve these three goals,” Dr. Holman said.
The University of Minnesota released the following statement from Jakub Tolar, Dean of the U School of Medicine and Vice President of Clinical Affairs, regarding the planned expansion:
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to deepen our existing relationship with CentraCare. The medical school is committed to working with any state health system that wishes to further educate our students and residents. CentraCare has been a partner for more than 20 years training physicians, pharmacists, and most recently, advanced practice nurses. Over the past year, we have worked with them to meet Greater Minnesota’s need for more physicians and access broader to high-quality healthcare. And based on the success of our programs in Duluth, we look forward to expanding our ability to provide excellent education and training opportunities with CentraCare to more future physicians. . »
The university’s board of trustees will vote in February on whether to approve the new plan, and if approved, the first class of medical students is expected to start in two years.
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