How can Iowa keep more physicians in the state after medical school? State Rep. Ann Meyer hopes a new bill, requiring the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine to prioritize applicants from the state, will help. Eighty percent of its students would need to have Iowa roots. The same stipulations would apply to the University of Iowa dental college.
- "It's not out of the norms because other states do this, too," Meyer said.
- "Is 80% the right number? We already have 70%. I don't think that they're focusing on the thing that they should be focusing on, which is — how do you keep talent in Iowa?" said Dr. Glenn Hurst, a rural medicine specialist.
- The bill also prioritizes hiring native Iowans for residencies within the state and emphasizes interviewing Iowans for high-need specialties such as psychiatry, and obstetrics and gynecology.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
How do we keep young doctors in Iowa? It's a question before the Iowa legislature this session.
I'm Southwest Iowa Reporter Katrina Markel.
And to meet this goal, there's an eye-catching bill in Des Moines.
Rep. Heather Matson: “Iowa has a real problem with recruiting and retaining doctors.”
It calls for requiring the University of Iowa medical school to ensure at least 80% of each class is from Iowa.
The big goal is to get more doctors to work in Iowa.
“Native Iowans graduating from medical school: 81% of them left for residency,” Rep. Ann Meyer said on the House floor.
She told me over the phone that she's been working on this bill for five years because she's heard from several qualified Iowans who were rejected from the state medical and dental schools.
"It's not out of the norms because other states do this, too," she said.
Meyer argued on the House floor that states like Texas and Illinois, set limits on the number of out-of-state medical students enrolled.
Dr Glenn Hurst, who specializes in rural medicine, and until recently had a practice in Minden, says he believes there are better ways to incentivize doctors to stay in the state.
"Is 80% the right number? We already have 70%. I don't think that they're focusing on the thing that they should be focusing on, which is — how do you keep talent in Iowa?" he said.
Rep. Adam Zabner represents Iowa City in the House.
“The real problem is that Republicans have made it to be a hard state to be a doctor in, they’ve underfunded healthcare and they’ve underfunded education,” he said.
“South Dakota has a much stricter abortion law than we do and they’re keeping their doctors there,” Meyer said over the phone.
South Dakota does have a higher retention rate: 56 percent. The U.S. average is 54%, but In Iowa only 45% stay after their residencies.
Now that the bill is through the House, it's up to the Senate whether they amend it or pass the bill as it is. In Council Bluffs, I'm your southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel.
