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BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina has about 2,700 family physicians, but will need another 2,000 by 2020 to keep up with demand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A statewide program aims to give family medicine a booster shot.

The N.C. Academy of Family Physicians Foundation has earned a $1.18 million grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation to help address the shortage of family physicians. The grant will help launch the Family Medicine Interest and Scholars Program, an effort to increase the number of N.C.-trained medical students who opt for family medicine residencies and practices in the state.

“Communities across North Carolina work hard to attract quality physicians to provide primary care for our citizens,” BCBSNC Foundation chairman Brad Wilson said in a statement. “However, we are already faced with a national shortage of primary care physicians, and the recently passed health care reform legislation will mean an increase in the number of folks seeking care. We hope that through this initiative, North Carolina medical students will receive the help and incentive they need to make a commitment to family medicine.”

Federal health care reform legislation passed earlier this year will insure more North Carolinians and increase the demand for family specialists, especially in low-income communities. A 2006 study commissioned by the American Academy of Family Physicians estimates the U.S. needs to add nearly 39,000 family doctors by 2020 to meet demand.

North Carolina, which has about 2,700 doctors, will need 2,000 more by 2020. At current rates, the number of N.C. family doctors would only meet 75 percent of the projected need.

“With the urgent need for more primary care physicians, we are proud to support a program that will have a real impact on this state,” said Kathy Higgins, president of the BCBSNC Foundation. “Identifying students early who are interested in a career in family medicine and helping them reach that goal will in-turn benefit communities all across North Carolina.”

The mentorship program aims to increase the percentage of students at the state’s four medical school who commit to family medicine residency by 30 percent and residency training in the state to 66 percent over the six-year program. In 2008, 56 percent of N.C. medical students chose residency training in the state.

Keeping doctors in-state has an economic benefit: According to the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies, the annual impact of one new family physician is more than $950,000.

The program will pair N.C. medical students with family medicine role models in clinical settings.  The mentors will work with students for three years to improve their skills, offer guidance and boost their health care leadership training and experience. 

“We understand that pursuing family medicine is often not an easy choice for medical students,” said Greg Griggs, executive vice president of Raleigh-based NCAFP. “We believe this grant will help make family medicine more of an option for North Carolina medical students. And the access to dedicated mentors will help these students provide quality medical care to patients across the state.“

Students who participate in the scholars program will also receive additional exposure to family medicine throughout their schooling, including additional clinical experiences, and will have the opportunity to access scholarship funding if they ultimately enter a family medicine residency program.

The NCAFP Foundation has identified the students and mentors participating in the program for the 2010-2011 academic year.









   

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