The leading advisory body for the growth of UC health programs recently concluded a study that recommended extensive changes to the system’s schools in order to accommodate the state’s rising need for medical professionals.
The council’s purpose was to review an earlier study conducted by the Health Sciences Committee and recommend specific targets for health sciences enrollment for 2020.
A June 2005 report released by the HSC stated that California will be short by as many as 17,000 physicians by 2015, and 116,600 nurses by 2020 due to an aging work force, increasing population and lack of growth in medical education. Demand for pharmacists is also expected to increase as the number of issued prescriptions is far exceeding the current number of pharmacists in California.
In addition, the report found that California ranks 49th in the nation in number of nurses per patient, and 43rd nationally in the number of pharmacists per capita.
HSC developed its prediction models using the number of current active physicians in the state, the number of first-year graduate residents, the number of students received from out-of-state schools, the expected number of retirees and overall population growth.
The current shortfalls are made worse when considering enrollment in UC health sciences programs, which has remained flat for the past 30 years. During the same time, the population grew by 52 percent.
In light of the findings, the advisory body, co-chaired by Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Health Affairs Wyatt R. Hume and Regent Sherry Lansing, recommended a large increase in enrollment at UC schools in the areas of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and veterinary medicine.
In the area of medicine, the council pushed for a 34-percent increase in student enrollment, including medical residents completing clinical training after graduating from medical school, by 2020. Although the council agreed that planning should continue for a new UC school of medicine, to be located in a medically underserved region such as California’s Central Valley, the council recommended focusing expansion on existing UC schools using new Programs in Medical Education at all five UC medical centers.
Designed to help physicians better meet the needs of a diverse population, P.R.I.M.E. programs at each separate school will focus on different medically underserved portions of the population.
In 2004, UC Irvine launched the pilot P.R.I.M.E. program for the Latino community.
The inaugural class of eight students received language and cultural training, “”hands-on”” experiences in Mexico and specialized training focusing on medical issues that impact Latinos in higher numbers.
Other P.R.I.M.E. programs that focus on underserved urban and rural Californians are planned for the medical schools at UCSD, UC San Francisco and UC Davis. A final P.R.I.M.E. program is planned for the UCLA School of Medicine, which has yet to adopt a program focus.
The council recommended a 50-percent increase in nursing master’s student enrollment by 2010, a 25-percent increase between 2010 and 2015 and an additional 25-percent increase by 2020.
The council also recommended a 100 percent increase in pharmacy doctoral students and pharmacy residents by 2020. At UCSD’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Anthony Manoguerra said that, currently, the school does not have any plans to increase enrollment.
“”It won’t be until 2009 before we reach our steady state enrollment goal of 60 students,”” he said.
The council recommended a 180 percent increase in master’s and doctoral student enrollments by 2020 in the area of public health, stating that this would be an important step in responding to the serious and growing deficiencies in the state and national public health work force.
The council proposed a shorter timetable for UC veterinary medicine, recommending that enrollment increase by 29 new veterinary medical students by 2008, with the eventual goal of 60 students.
The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has already partnered with UCSD to provide a program of veterinary education in Southern California. Students at the UC Veterinary Medicine Center in San Diego study at the Laboratory Animal Medicine Program, the San Diego Zoological Society, the Navy Marine Mammal Program, the Sea World/Hubbs Research Institute and the UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Although this joint program provides an educational foundation, the council emphasized the need for a comprehensive school of veterinary medicine in the area, and recommended the creation of a new veterinary medicine program or school in Southern California.
