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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The University of Queensland Ochsner Clinical School has graduated its fourth and largest class to date, showing a rapid growth that puts more primary care doctors in Louisiana.
Established in 2009, the UQ Ochsner Clinical School has grown from an inaugural class of nine students in 2013 to its most current class of 63 aspiring physicians, an increase of 725 percent.
Dr. William Pinsky, executive vice president and chief academic officer for Ochsner Health System as well as a professor and head of UQ Ochsner Clinical School, said the school is on track to graduate an estimated 100 students next year and 120 in 2017.
"It's always been our plan to have 120 students in each class and we've been evolving it and ramping it up for a few reasons," Pinsky said. "The first is from an accreditation perspective.the second is to be sure we have the right resources as we build up the class."
The doctor of medicine program, accredited by the Australian Medical Council, is a partnership between Ochsner Health System and the UQ Medical School in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Students spend the first two years of the program in pre-clinical training at UQ's Brisbane campus and their final two years in clinical training at Ochsner before entering their residencies.
Pinsky said one of the reasons Ochsner chose the University of Queensland as a partner is that UQ had a strong curriculum in primary care.
"Two of our goals were to, one, graduate more doctors in the state of Louisiana and, two, give students a greater exposure to primary care with the idea that the more exposure they have had, the more likely they would be to enter into primary care practice," he said.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges' Center for Workforce Studies, the U.S. will face a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians by 2020. And according to a 2010 report by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, Louisiana will require 392 additional primary care physicians by 2030.
Ochsner has seen approximately 48 percent of its clinical school students choose primary care fields. These include internal medicine, family practice and pediatrics.
"The caveat is that we won't know for a couple of years if they stay in primary care," Pinsky said. "Historically in the U.S., at least two-thirds or more of residents in internal medicine will go into a different specialty."
Pinsky said the school also places a strong focus on faculty-to-student mentoring both in the primary care field and in collaboration on research initiatives.
The program currently has a 90 percent match rate in the National Resident Matching Program, which matches the preferences of medical residents with the preferences of residency program directors. The majority of UQ Ochsner students secure a spot in their first or second choice institutions for their residency.
Pinsky estimates that about 45% of graduates go on to complete their residencies in Louisiana. Students are encouraged to consider institutions in the Gulf South region, including Ochsner.
"Our students come from leading universities across the nation to take part in this unique educational opportunity," Pinsky added. "They are high achievers looking for experiences that more traditional programs cannot offer without compromising educational quality."
Joshua Mauro, a 2015 graduate, spent part of his clinical training providing health care services in a remote Australian mining village.
"I'm fortunate I was able to have the experience of a lifetime, without sacrificing my clinical education," he said. "It's definitely not something I'll forget anytime soon."
The 2015 graduating class, along with all other medical school graduates in the U.S., will receive their residency match results from NRMP next March.
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Information from: New Orleans CityBusiness, http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com
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