March 21, known as Match Day, for graduating medical students is a significant milestone, marking the next step in their journey to full medical practice. On Match Day, medical students find out which residency and fellowship programs are inviting them to continue their medical education.
At Teaching Hospitals of Texas, this day is an opportunity to celebrate our member institutions’ ongoing commitment to nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals. While just 4 percent of all Texas hospitals, THOT members account for 44 percent of all graduate medical education (GME) full-time equivalency positions, making them a vital component of physician education and training to secure the physicians needed to care for a growing Texas.
Where physicians perform their residencies is a strong predictor of where they will practice. More than 55 percent of physicians completing a residency between 2012 and 2021 practice in the same state where they did their residency. More than 56 percent of individuals completing family medicine residencies specifically practice within 100 miles of where they completed their training.
“Investing in GME residency and fellowship opportunities is investing in the future health of our communities,” said Maureen Milligan, PhD, president and CEO, Teaching Hospitals of Texas. “THOT members distinguish themselves in their commitment to training the next generation of Texas physicians, and providing residency and fellowship training opportunities within our state helps ensure we have enough physicians to care for our growing population in the future.”
Hospitals are the primary site for GME clinical training, but they receive limited funding through different programs leaving a significant share of THOT member hospitals’ historic GME positions unfunded. Medicare funds some of the costs of GME but uses an outdated formula that funds only a share of costs for residencies that existed over 25 years ago. Through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the CAA of 2023, Congress allocated new funding for an additional 1,200 GME slots nationwide for qualifying hospitals: located in a rural area, training a number of residents that exceeds their current GME slots, located in a state with new medical schools or branch campuses, or located in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Two hundred of these new Medicare-funded graduate medical education slots were awarded last year to 109 teaching hospitals across the country, including two THOT members – Dallas-based Parkland Health and UT Southwestern Medical center. Even though they are underfunded, THOT’s teaching hospitals continue to train our healthcare workforce – because it’s a crucial part of our mission to support the health of Texas.
In addition to Medicare funding, the 88th Texas Legislature created a series of grant programs to support new GME positions in forensic psychiatry and rural residency programs.
