Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/100670
SPeCIaL Feature NEOMED: Developing and Diversifying the Healthcare Workforce By Jill Wodtley 30 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD News ��� MDNEWS.COM ��� JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013 T HE FUTURE OF health care rests in the hands of the next generation of healthcare professionals. Finding and supporting them is the goal of Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). To achieve this goal, NEOMED has initiated several partnerships and programs which will not only improve access to health care, particularly for underserved populations, but also increase workforce diversity and boost the northeast Ohio economy. A key component is Education for Service, a regional, comprehensive, integrated initiative that addresses the nationwide shortage of primary care physicians, particularly among urban and rural populations, while preparing the next generation of healthcare providers to fill this void in northeast Ohio. ���At the approximately 130 academic health centers nationwide, we do a pretty good job of incentivizing our graduates to practice medicine in middle class, suburban communities. We need to find new ways to incentivize our graduates to practice in underserved urban and rural areas,��� says NEOMED president, Jay A. Gershen, DDS, PhD, who noted this will become an even more pressing issue when some 30 million more people have access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. ���We already have a projected shortage of 100,000 providers nationwide, including 40,000 primary care physicians, and the primary care providers we do have are not distributed where we���d like them to be.��� In response, NEOMED is introducing local students, starting as young as middle school, from urban and rural communities to possible careers in medicine, PHOTOS �� SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON Jay A. Gershen, DDS, PhD, is president of Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) where several new partnerships and programs have been initiated to improve access to health care and increase workforce diversity while boosting the northeast Ohio economy.