Walker Budgets Money To Train, Retain Doctors

Governor Walker is taking steps to prevent a shortage of doctors. Part of his proposed budget includes millions to train medical students.

Last year, the Wisconsin Hospital Association estimated the state would need to train or recruit an additional 100 physicians a year through 2030 to meet future demand. The governor wants to allocate state money to educate students from the Medical College of Wisconsin at satellite campuses in Green Bay and Wausau. The hospital association’s Eric Borgerding says another key component of the Governor’s proposal is funding for residency training. That’s because students who graduate from either of the state’s two medical schools often leave to practice elsewhere. “If a student graduates from a Wisconsin medical school the chances are pretty good – okay – that they’ll practice here. But we know that that chance goes up to 87 percent if they do their post graduate training here, their residency.”

Walker’s proposal would put $3 million into UW’s School of Medicine to expand its residency program in underserved urban and rural areas. In addition, there would be $4 million spent on rural hospitals to get national accreditation and train residents. If the legislature approves, $7.4 million will go toward expanding the Medical College of Wisconsin to other parts of the state.