Medical school could adress growing issue
Published 9:45 am Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Lafayette could get a medical school within the next three years, and the move could help address a growing problem: The number of Louisiana-educated physicians who choose to stay here is dwindling.
The Advocate reported that LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans is considering offering a three-year med-school program. The concept is still in its early stages, but officials are already touting the positives and saying it would be easy to do.
Dr. Larry Hollier, the school’s chancellor, Joey Durel, Lafayette city-parish president, and State Treasurer John Kennedy were among the officials who discussed the idea earlier this month.
LSU’s four-year medical program would be reduced to three years in Lafayette, and the program would double from 20 to 40 students.
The state’s three medical schools are LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport and Tulane University School of Medicine.
Lafayette is already home to an LSU Family Medicine Residency Program, where some LSU students spend their final years of training.
Durel said that while the word “school” is attached to the idea, “it’s more of a change in programming” that is intended to give medical students more training options.
Kennedy has been vocal about his desire to see a medical school in Lafayette. He said the state’s three medical schools “graduate about 450 kids a year, but many of them don’t stay in Louisiana.”
Along with graduates leaving the state, more doctors are retiring, exacerbating the situation.
Hollier said the school is “interested in whatever we can do to increase the health care workforce in this state.”
It’s clear that something needs to be done to ensure Louisiana has enough doctors to provide patients with high-quality health care. While it’s not yet close to a reality, the fact that the idea is being talked about is a step in the right direction.