Sadly, it’s too few doctors. Texas only ranks 42nd in the number of physicians per 100,000 population, according to an editorial on the matter published by the Houston Chronicle today (please see http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/7276313.html for additional detail). The Chronicle also points out that Texas is on the low side for postgraduate medical education (residency) positions. In Texas, the ratio of graduating medical students from Texas schools only has a 1:1 ratio to available postgraduate residency positions in Texas. New York and California are doing much better, with ratios of greater than 3:1 and 1.7:1 respectively. The low Texas ratio means that many Texas medical school graduates (45%) leave Texas for postgraduate training opportunities elsewhere, never to return. Since the education of Texas medical students costs over $200,000 per student, this is a huge financial loss to the state each year.
Texas needs to do better in the area of postgraduate medical education by expanding the number of positions it offers. This issue directly impacts the current shortage of dermatologists in Texas. If more Texas medical students were able to find dermatology residency positions in Texas, more would probably stay and practice here.
The University of Texas Medical Branch Dermatology Interest Group (UTMB DIG) is a resource for medical students interested in Dermatology as well as for dermatologists and residents.
Editors
Current Editors: Jane Onyemachi and Madelyn Schmidt
(Please email editors if there is blog-worthy news that you would like to see shared)
Past Editors: Fareen Momin, Andrea Francis, Renat Ahatov, Michael Phan, Elise Weisert, Michael Ryan, Keith Wagner, Tim Allen, Kristyna Gleghorn, Dung Mac, Alex Acosta, William Tausend, Sheila Jalalat, Rebecca Philips, Chelsea Altinger, Lindsey Hunter, Alison Wiesenthal, Leslie Scroggins, Mara Dacso, Ashley Group, Fadi Constantine, Emily Fridlington, Joslyn Witherspoon, Tasneem Poonawalla.