Hosted by the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and Maricopa County Medical Society
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Please join the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership and Maricopa County Medical Society on Wednesday, May 31 at 2:00 p.m. to hear from a panel of experts about the current state of graduate medical education in Arizona and what needs to be done at the state and federal level to help alleviate our physician shortage.
Following a welcome from John McElligott, executive director of Maricopa County Medical Society, Flinn Foundation’s Brian Powell, author of “GME Formulas and Funding Continue to Hold Arizona Back”—which appears in the latest issue of the medical society’s Arizona Physician magazine—will moderate a panel of experts including former State SenatorHeather Carter, Ed.D., executive vice president, Greater Phoenix Leadership; Dan Derksen, M.D., director, Arizona Center for Rural Health; and Jason Bezozo, vice president, government relations, Banner Health.
Graduate medical education is a specialized training program that follows medical school and provides advanced clinical and practical experience for physicians in their chosen specialty. With 28.5 slots for resident physicians per 100,000 population, Arizona lags the national average of 43.8 per 100,000, according to data from the Arizona Center for Rural Health. This challenge coincides with a rapidly growing and aging population in the state.
While hampered by a federal formula that limits Medicare funding for residents, Arizona has implemented creative solutions to add hundreds of millions of dollars of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) funding to increase residencies across the state. See the most recent AHCCCS report here.