The Critical Need for Medical Doctors in the State of Louisiana

The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), among others, have published reports on the impending shortage of physicians in the United States. The retirement of physicians and the aging baby boomer population, alone, will create a need for more trained doctors. According to the reports, existing U.S. medical schools are not presently educating enough students to maintain an adequate number of U.S. health care providers in the near future. Experts are projecting that, by the year 2020, there will be an 80,000 to 200,000 physician shortage nationwide.

The State of Louisiana already experiences the effects of an inadequate number of doctors. Problems that existed prior to Hurricane Katrina were only exacerbated by the storm. To date, no one has been able to even completely quantify how much worse the situation has become. In addition, Louisiana’s citizens will continue to suffer because there are no incentives to retain medical doctors in this state – they move to other states for higher pay and a higher style of living. FICA believes that the emphasis of our community should be to encourage physicians to stay in the state through incentives offered by hospitals.

In conjunction with a group of community leaders, Flood International Consulting Agency (FICA) seeks to pursue measures to rectify this shortage problem. We find it interesting that, over the last twenty years, many entrepreneurs have entertained the thought of building a new medical school in Louisiana; however, none have ever advanced beyond the idea stage. Establishing a medical school in Baton Rouge is a logical pursuit given that the populations of Baton Rouge and its surrounding communities have doubled since Hurricane Katrina. A new medical school would increase the opportunities for students in Louisiana universities desiring to become physicians and help to improve health care in the state. In addition, a new medical school would not only assist in filling the physician shortage gap, but it could also help drive the economy and advance Louisiana’s medical industry. If a medical school were built, in ten years from its opening, Louisiana could expect an additional 25,000 jobs, $6.4 billion in economic activity and almost $2.3 billion paid in wages. These projections are from recent studies on developing medical schools in Florida.

It is time that the Louisiana medical community comes together to fill the void that our state is facing. According to a recent USA Today article, “The predictions of a doctor shortage represent an abrupt about-face for the medical profession. For the past quarter-century, the American Medical Association and other industry groups have predicted a glut of doctors and worked to limit the number of new physicians. In 1994, the Journal of the American Medical Association predicted a surplus of 165,000 doctors by 2000.” But, "It didn't happen," according to David Blumenthal, a Harvard University medical professor and author of a New England Journal of Medicine article concerning the doctor supply. (See the full text article on USAToday).

As for our team, we will do our part by connecting with leaders who can assist us in a variety of ways to advance our local and state communities. The goal is to bring brilliant scientists from various parts of the nation and the world to advance the medical community in the state of Louisiana. We are a unique consulting firm in that our advisors and projects are globally situated, however, our ultimate focus is on bringing progress to the State of Louisiana. For this reason, we have chosen to keep our offices in Louisiana rather than in business centers such as Chicago and New York: Baton Rouge is home and we want to remain a part of its fabric.