UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AT PEORIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT: David Haney, Director of Strategic Communications University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria 309.671.8404 | dhaney@uicomp.uic.edu

Study ranks UICOMP 11th in nation for producing primary care physicians
PEORIA (August 26, 2013) The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria was named among the top 15 producers of primary care graduates across the U.S., according to a new study appearing in the medical journal, Academic Medicine. UICOMP ranked No. 11 of 161 U.S. institutions sponsoring graduate medical education, according to the report that will appear in the September issue of Academic Medicine. Rankings were based on the rate of residency graduates who entered primary care compared to total number of residency graduates. What this says is that we are providing accountable health care education, and the quality of education being provided by the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria is commensurate with societal needs, which is ever so important, Thomas Santoro, MD, UICOMPs Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education, said of the study results. Not only are we providing the type of care thats needed the primary care physician but also where theyre needed geographically. Were fulfilling our mission and doing what the College of Medicine in Peoria was created to do. UICOMP had 201 residency graduates between 2006 and 2008 the years the study focused on to allow graduates time to become established in practice with 78 of those graduates, or 38.8 percent, entering primary care, the report cited. Two other Illinois institutions also were among the top 15, including Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. Why is this important? While the federal government provides nearly $10 billion annually in subsidies toward graduate medical education, the physician workforce is struggling to meet the nations health care needs, particularly in primary care and geographically underserved areas, the study notes. As policy makers look at future funding based on accountability, the research study provides a look at institutional outcomes in terms of primary care. In 2008, the Association of American Medical Colleges projected a shortage of 124,000 full-time equivalent physicians by 2025, with primary care accounting for the largest share (37 percent or 46,000 full-time equivalents). (continued)

Chicago

Peoria

UIC

Rockford

Urbana-Champaign

Similarly, a 2012 article in the Annals of Family Medicine cites 52,000 primary care physicians will be needed by 2025 to meet demand, driven largely by population growth and aging. A look at the top 15 producers of primary care by rate as will appear in Academic Medicine:
Total No. of No. in % in No. of specialties primary primary grads trained care care Top producers of primary care graduates Location University of Nevada School of Medicine Reno, Nev. 239 11 129 54 Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Bronx, NY 286 12 143 50 Kaiser Permanente Southern California Los Angeles, Calif. 286 16 140 49 Brooklyn Hospital Center Brooklyn, NY 227 9 109 48 James H. Quillen College of Medicine Johnson City, Tenn. 240 12 113 47.1 University of Kansas School of Medicine (Wichita) Wichita, Kan. 233 11 108 46.4 Atlantic Health Florham Park, NJ 244 10 110 45.1 UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program Fresno, Calif. 206 9 86 41.8 Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Park Ridge, Ill. 205 11 85 41.5 Kaiser Permanente Medical Group Oakland, Calif. 227 4 94 41.4 University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria Peoria, Ill. 201 13 78 38.8 New York Methodist Hospital Brooklyn, NY 256 14 98 38.3 Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Springfield, Ill. 268 22 98 36.6 Long Island College Hospital Brooklyn, NY 203 7 72 35.5 Wright State University School of Medicine Dayton, Ohio 340 18 120 35.3

No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

The report, Toward Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accountability: Measuring the Outcomes of GME Institutions may be found online at: http://www.grahamcenter.org/online/etc/medialib/graham/documents/publications/towardgme.Par.0001.File.dat/To ward_Graduate_Medical_Education__GME_.99378_1.pdf. And cited in Washington Monthly: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/july_august_2013/features/first_teach_no_harm0 45361.php?page=all. UICOMP sponsors 11 residency and nine fellowship graduate training programs with its two primary affiliates, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and UnityPoint Health Methodist. Santoro says the report provides documentation of accountability, but he adds some caution. Weve never had any level of accountability, so this is a first look at what the return on investment is in the physician workforce, he said. Its been proven time and again that effective medical therapy requires a director and thats what the primary care physician provides patients. But from this look, you also might think places like Duke or Harvard (ranked among the bottom) could be in trouble, which is not the case. If you ask the question how many graduates go on to be physicians of academic excellence, they would be the ones producing the researchers of the future, making the biomedical discoveries and producing the faculty members of excellence. Their orientation is just different. One of four campuses that make up one of the largest public medical schools in the United States, the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria educates more than 150 medical students annually and more than 250 residents and fellows. ###