Our nation’s graduate medical education (GME) system trains the world’s most prominent physicians who serve patients in practice settings ranging from renowned teaching hospitals, to community hospitals, to small primary care practices across the country. In addition to their essential role in training physicians, teaching hospitals are uniquely qualified to provide high-quality patient care to our sickest populations and serve as the epicenter of medical research in this country.The Philadelphia region is home to many of the nation’s premier teaching hospitals. These hospitals not only provide high-quality care in our communities, but also train top-tier physicians, conduct groundbreaking medical research, and provide jobs that fuel the local economy. As a Representative of a region with such a prominent stake in teaching the next generation of doctors and as Chair of the Academic Medicine Caucus in Congress, I have led the fight to preserve support for GME.

Already, nearly one in five Americans lack adequate access to primary care due to a shortage of primary care physicians in their communities. Officials are predicting that enrollment in Medicare will surge to 73.2 million in 2025, up 44 percent from 50.7 million this year. Approximately one-third of the country’s doctors are 55 or older, and nearing retirement.  In order to ensure access to essential health care services for millions of Americans, an expansion of residency slots is urgently needed to train the next generation of physicians. 

In August of last year, I sponsored the The Physician Shortage Reduction and Graduate Medical Education Accountability Act (H.R. 6352). This legislation would expand the number of residency training positions in Medicare by 15,000 over five years and boost accuracy and transparency in the GME program, which has repeatedly been a target for deficit reduction measures. This effort reflects the pressing need for reforms to our nation’s graduate medical education system that will not only expand training capacity, but also improve the quality of physician training in this country.

As policy makers have sought to reduce the federal deficit, some in Washington have proposed cutting Medicare GME funding as part of a larger deficit reduction package. Our nation's teaching hospitals rely on GME funding to support the training of our nation's primary and specialty physicians. Any cuts to GME funding will result in fewer doctors being trained, acceleration and worsening of physician shortages, and less access to critical services for our rapidly growing population of seniors. in 2011, I spearheaded a letter with 113 co-signers to House and Senate Leadership, urging them to recognize the critical role our nation's teaching hospitals play in both the delivery of quality health care and the development of our future health care workforce, and urging them to reject cuts to teaching hospitals.

Congress can no longer ignore the need to take concrete action to ensure a robust physician workforce capable of meeting the health needs of our growing and aging population. My efforts reflect the pressing need for reforms to our nation’s graduate medical education system that will not only expand training capacity but also improve the quality of physician training in this country.

We are now on the cusp of a crisis in access to both specialty and primary care physicians. Further reductions in our training capacity threaten to exacerbate this shortage and render our aging population unable to access essential health care services.