and underserved populations; providing for increased participation of underrepresented
groups and socially and economically disadvantaged youth; providing
for technology-rich learning environments; providing for administration and
faculty; providing for collaboration with other professionals for integration of
modern health care delivery concepts; authorizing the Florida State University
to negotiate and purchase certain liability insurance; specifying that the act be
implemented as funded; providing an effective date.
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has
identified 67 regions in Florida, including 13 entire counties, most of them in
rural North Florida, as Health Professional Shortage Areas; and 40 percent of the
state’s 67 counties have fewer than 100 doctors per 100,000 population, compared
to the national average of 221 doctors per 100,000 population, and
WHEREAS, in Florida, more than 3.2 million residents are over the age of 60,
more than 80 percent of patients who visit a primary care physician are elder persons,
and between 60 percent and 70 percent of persons seeking medical care are
age 60 and over; and Florida’s continuing population growth, especially among
its older residents, is contributing to an increasing shortage of physicians in the
state, and
WHEREAS, Florida has large areas of medically underserved minority populations,
and
WHEREAS, there are hundreds of highly qualified university students in Florida
who seek, but cannot gain, admission to medical school, and
WHEREAS, Florida currently imports a substantial number of its doctors from
other states or countries, and ranks third highest, nationally, in the percentage of
its total allopathic physician workforce who are international medical graduates,
and
WHEREAS, Florida’s existing medical education system has an extremely limited
capacity to serve the state’s rapidly growing population, which leaves the
state vulnerable to physician shortages at the national level, while at the same
time limiting opportunities for Florida’s best students to enter the medical field
and serve their communities, and
WHEREAS, a medical school is not required to have its own teaching hospital in
order to have a high-quality, accredited medical education program, and
100 | Breaking the Mold