MADISON WI – The Wisconsin Council for Medical Education and Workforce has launched a campaign to retain Wisconsin-trained physicians and bring back those with family or educational ties to the state.
“Every state in the nation is competing for a limited pool of physicians,” said WCMEW Chairman Carl Getto, MD.
According to reports, Wisconsin retains about 38 percent of the physicians who graduate from its two medical schools, which isn’t enough to meet the state’s growing demand for medical care.
The key to the campaign, launched in October, is www.wisconsinphysiciancareers.org, a site where physicians can browse career opportunities at Wisconsin hospitals, clinics and academic medicine institutions. More than 400 positions for physicians in 61 specialties were posted in less than a month, and approximately 100 more have been added since.
Family and internal medicine top the list of most job postings, followed by hospitalists – physicians who specialize in hospital care – and psychiatrists.
The number of vacant positions is a clear sign that the demand for physicians is threatening to outstrip supply in almost all parts of the state, according to the WCMEW.
Participants in the council include the Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Medical Society, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Medical College of Wisconsin, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative and Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants.
“We could face a crisis of monumental proportions within the next few years that will decrease our supply of physicians and threaten access to healthcare in Wisconsin,” Charles Shabino, MD, Wisconsin Hospital Association’s senior medical advisor, said. “Addressing it will require that we change how we train, recruit and attract physicians to our state.”
Shabino said the distribution of physicians in Wisconsin is uneven, and physician recruitment is challenging.
“It’s extremely difficult to recruit physicians to rural areas,” said Mark Belknap, MD, former president of the Wisconsin Medical Society and an internal medicine specialist who practices in Ashland. “This Web site will be a valuable tool to make potential candidates in all specialties aware of practice positions available throughout Wisconsin.”