Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Medical school could enhance Idaho?s future


Here are numbers from the American Medical Association that should rattle the Idaho political establishment as well as residents in general.

In 2003, the United States had 26.6 physicians per 10,000 population, with 23.5 doctors per 10,000 devoted to patient care.

Compare that to Idaho, which had 17.7 physicians per 10,000 total, and 16.1 devoted to patient care per 10,000 population.

Idaho was last among all states in the number of physicians per 10,000 population and second from the bottom in patient-care doctors (Oklahoma had 15.5).

Now this: South Dakota, North Dakota and Vermont each have medical schools in states with a combined population less than Idaho's 1.4 million people.

Although the 2003 data may have changed slightly, the indisputable message is this: Fast-growing Idaho needs a medical school, rather than continuing to provide financial aid for Idaho students to attend medical schools elsewhere.

The demand for a medical school is not merely an illusion but a necessity. It would require vision and determination of Idaho's next governor and the Legislature, the latter often handicapped by a horse-and-buggy notion that the role of state lawmakers is to say "No!" to new ideas.

Idaho State University in Pocatello provides much of the state's higher education health training. It has existing facilities that could be the foundation for a new medical school. Its president proposes an obvious first step for lawmakers: provide funds for a feasibility study to determine the need and costs of a medical school.

Surely, that sort of seed money is reasonable, considering the potential health and economic benefits of an Idaho medical school. Legislators also could count on the state's medical professionals and hospitals to assist in any research about need as well as curricula.

Idaho has a number of fine urban health care facilities that attract excellent professional specialists. But rural health care is one of the state's deficiencies.

By building its own medical school, and developing in-state residency programs for young physicians, communities now without doctors could be served by graduates as part of their licensing process.

Ultimately, a medical school worth its salt adds research programs and, later, specialties in health care, all of which become economic engines that create jobs.

Topics far less vital to Idaho's future have consumed candidates in the race for governor. Articulating the vision of medical school in Idaho would elevate the quality of state politics and add a sense that candidates are prepared to lead.




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