With Utah lawmakers focused on high-impact degrees, the University of Utah’s biggest funding ask this legislative session promises to boost one of the most sought-after careers—M.D.s.
The state has one of the lowest shares of primary care providers in the nation, creating a “medical desert” in many parts of Utah, President Taylor Randall told lawmakers on the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee Jan. 29.
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In an effort to close the gap, the University of Utah proposes creating a Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus in St. George in partnership with Utah Tech University. To launch the medical school program, the U is requesting $10.6 million in ongoing funding from the Utah Legislature.
Under the new program, the medical school is proposing an accelerated three-year M.D. program with direct entry into residency programs with a rural track.
“This is a big step forward in providing rural medical care and getting doctors into communities that desperately need them right now,” Randall said.
The funding would support 10 new medical students a year. Intermountain Health will be a major clinical partner in training these students and discussions are underway to collaborate with Intermountain Health in establishing new residency programs in Southern Utah.
“University of Utah Health is committed to serving all Utahns,” said Sam Finlayson, interim dean, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. “This proposal promises to improve access to health care for residents in rural areas, and ensure we are fulfilling our mission.”
The U has a long history of partnering with Utah Tech for graduate-level degree programs, including a physician assistant program in its seventh year. In the PA program, students earn their degree from the U while Utah Tech provides the teaching and training spaces and student support services. The new medical campus would follow a similar structure.
A key component of the Utah Tech-University of Utah programs is training healthcare providers who want to work in rural and underserved parts of Utah and the Mountain West. It’s essential to expand medical education in areas beyond the Wasatch Front to boost physician retention in rural areas and create a sustainable system for training new providers, said Michelle Hofmann, senior associate dean at the U’s Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.
Studies show that a significant proportion of the physicians who complete medical school in Utah—40%—remain in the state, as do 45% of those who complete their residency here. For doctors who complete both medical school and residency in the state, the number who stay in Utah jumps to 70%. In other states, programs similar to the one proposed for St. George have documented at least a 75% physician retention in rural and primary care careers.
And “physicians are trained by physicians,” Hofmann said. “If you go into an area that doesn’t have enough physicians, you don’t have enough people to train new physicians.”
“We do hope to leverage the whole region, and not just St. George for training opportunities,” Hofmann said.
While the plan is to begin with enrolling 10 new medical students each year, the program could scale up to 25 in the future.
Lawmakers will consider the university’s funding request later in the session when higher education budgets are finalized.