More LSU med grads staying in Louisiana this year
NEW ORLEANS - (AP) — Louisiana State University's medical schools in Shreveport and New Orleans announced Thursday that 59 percent of their graduates are staying in Louisiana for their residencies, up from 50 percent at each a year ago.
The figure is important because doctors are likely to stay in the state where they complete their training, and Louisiana is short of doctors, said Dr. Robert Barish, chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.
About 31 percent of Tulane University Medical School's graduates are staying in Louisiana for their residencies.
LSUHSC-Shreveport had 108 graduates, LSUHSC-New Orleans had 165, and Tulane's medical school 164.
"This is the highest percentage of students remaining in the state in the last 10 years in terms of our graduates," said Dr. Fred Lopez, assistant dean for student affairs at LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans.
He said he thinks it's partly because this is the first class to enroll after Hurricane Katrina. "There's no doubt that people who chose to come to medical school in Louisiana were students committed to Louisiana," he said.
He also said students who chose to stay in state told him the prospect of a new LSU hospital in New Orleans played a big part in their decisions. "The fact that a new University Medical Center is likely to become a reality in the near future has fueled a lot of optimism," he said.
Medical residencies last three to seven years; plans call for opening the LSU hospital in 2014.
Dr. Andrew L. Chesson, dean of the medical school in Shreveport, said between 50 percent and 60 percent of its graduates usually take residencies in Louisiana. It's hard to explain any one-year change, he said.
"We certainly are doing our best to try to keep our students interested in staying in Louisiana and help them understand the benefits to them and to the state of them staying here."
___
On the Net:
LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans: www.lsuhsc.edu/
LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport: www.lsuhscshreveport.edu/
Tulane University Medical School: http://tulane.edu/som/
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
