There is a critical nationwide physician shortage in primary care and other specialties. Florida is particularly vulnerable due to its growing and aging population, including 20% of its physicians nearing retirement age.
Florida predicts a shortfall of 18,000 physicians by 2035. The FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s alliance with Baptist Health is addressing this physician shortage with plans to create at least 22 graduate medical education programs targeting specialty areas experiencing a supply and demand gap. This is an extremely important initiative because research indicates that young doctors are more likely to stay and practice in the area where they complete their specialty training.
Towards that goal, FIU and Baptist Health have just launched new joint residency programs in internal medicine, neurology, diagnostic radiology, and general surgery.
“This is a major step towards creating opportunities to train more doctors to provide health care for the South Florida Community,” says Juan C. Cendan, dean of the College of Medicine.
In addition to the new programs, five residency and fellowship programs already established at Baptist have transitioned under the new Florida International University/Baptist Health umbrella. The transitioning programs include residencies in family medicine and interventional radiology and fellowships in primary care sports medicine, orthopedic sports medicine, and orthopedic hand surgery.
On September 6, FIU became the official sponsoring institution for all joint FIU-Baptist Health programs. As a sponsoring institution, FIU oversees, supports, and administers the ACGME-accredited residency/fellowship programs. Residents and fellows train at Baptist Health facilities, including the health system’s flagship Baptist Hospital, which is on track to become a statutory teaching hospital.
“The elevation of Baptist Hospital to a statutory teaching hospital is a monumental leap that will expand undergraduate and graduate medical education programs, foster clinical research initiatives and enhance patient care services,” said Baptist Health President and CEO Bo Boulenger.