La Pine: Could these be the answer to the physician shortage?

Paid Tuition:  Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine announced it will offer full tuition scholarships for all students beginning July 2008.  It is reported that the average student dept for medical students graduating from private US schools is more than $150,000.  This plan hopes to invest in the future of medicine by attracting outstanding students to its program.  Currently Cleveland Clinic Lerner College has over 1,400 application for approximately 32 student positions.

Dr. Nurse:  Early in April the Wall Street Journal reported that the shortage in primary care physician may be solved by launching a doctorate of nursing practice program.  The new program was described as a two-year program, with a one-year residency, to provide more training than a nurse practitioner with a master’s degree.  The new program would award a DNP to individuals who have the education and the certification to be offered by National Board of Medical Examiners.  The article states that by 2015, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing aims to make the doctoral degree the standard for all new advanced practice nurses, which includes nurse practitioners.

The pushback comes from physicians who fear this will create confusion for patients and may negatively impact patient care.  Bottom line:  Doctorate Nurses are NOT equal to physicians.  Interesting comment…..when was the last time a patient was seen by the physician and NOT a Nurse Practitioner or Physicians Assistant?

More Medical School Programs:  This is only my question…. why don’t we increase the number of available medical student slots?

Carole  La Pine, MSA, CPMSM, CPCS