Guidelines on Recruiting and Attracting Graduates of Meharry Medical College Who are North Carolina Residents for Whom State Financial Support was Provided to Meharry Medical College

Introduction

This plan responds to North Carolina General Statute § 143-613 as contained in House Bill 230, Section 15 of the North Carolina General Assembly which provides the following:

The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall develop and implement a plan to recruit and attract graduates of Meharry Medical College who are North Carolina residents for whom State financial support was provided to Meharry Medical College. The Board's plan shall include informing the students of the State support, providing information about medical residency opportunities in North Carolina, and any other relevant information about opportunities for medical and dental practice in North Carolina. The Office of Rural Health and the Area Health Education Centers shall assist the Board in developing and implementing the plan. The Board shall include State supported graduates of Meharry Medical College in its monitoring report required by G.S. 143-613(d) on primary care physicians. Meharry Medical College shall supply information necessary for the Board to comply with this section.

The State of North Carolina has for many years, under contracts with institutions in other states, secured spaces for the training of its students in certain health professions which could not be fully provided by institutions in our State.

North Carolina students selected to fill contract spaces qualify for reduced tuition at the private institutions and for payment of tuition at the in-state rate at the public institutions. Students may also qualify for loan, scholarship, and work-study programs administered by the contracting institutions. The State of North Carolina has several student aid programs which may provide additional assistance. Students must be bona fide residents of the State in order to qualify for support under North Carolina's contract programs.

The contract programs are administered by the University of North Carolina General Administration. With the exception of one program in Optometry (at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry) all existing contract programs have been arranged through the Southern Regional Education Board in Atlanta. The programs are as follows:

* Dentistry at Meharry Medical College

* Medicine at Meharry Medical College

* Optometry at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry

at the Southern College of Optometry

at the University of Alabama, Birmingham

at the University of Houston

In 1950 there were 29 North Carolina students enrolled in Meharry Medical College with 17 in dentistry and 12 in medicine. Today, Meharry Medical College has 14 overall contract spaces equally divided between dentistry and medicine. Recruitment for these spaces is accomplished through contract career conferences and publications.

Contract Career Conferences

Students interested in applying for contract spaces in the several programs are urged to attend the career conferences scheduled each September. Representatives from the contract institutions, the General Administration staff, and advisory committees are present to describe the programs, facilities, and to answer questions regarding admission requirements, courses of study, housing, overall costs, and scholarships.

Students from all public and private four-year colleges and universities are invited to attend one of the conferences held at the sites listed below which is best suited to their schedules and travel convenience. Arrangements have been made for meetings as follows:

Medicine and Dentistry (in behalf of Meharry Medical College)

Davis Science Building

Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC

Hill Science Building

Winston-Salem State University

Barnes Hall

North Carolina A&T State University

Lee Biology Building

North Carolina Central University

Lyons Science Building

Fayetteville State University

Science Building

Elizabeth City State University

In addition, an annual brochure, Contract Programs in Dentistry, Medicine, and Optometry at Out-of-State Institutions for North Carolina Students is published and 5,200 copies are disseminated to the chancellors or Presidents of each institution of higher learning in the State as well as to members of the Health Professions Advisors of North Carolina. Additional support is provided by the North Carolina Health Careers Access Program through the creation and dissemination of fliers announcing the annual meetings.

The information in the publications provides times, locations, and dates of the career conferences as well as academic prerequisites for medicine and dentistry. In addition, the dates for the American Dental Association's examination and the Medical College Admissions test are provided to students.

As previously indicated, Meharry Medical College enrolls 14 North Carolina residents on an annual basis. This means that there are 7 dental and 7 medical students ranging from freshman to senior status at Meharry.

Several recent studies, tracking these students after graduation revealed that few have returned to North Carolina to practice. Since it has been shown that physicians tend to practice in closer proximity to where they do their residency training and since dentists tend to practice in areas that offer support in establishing their offices, the following plan is proposed to enhance the return of North Carolina residents to practice their professions in the State.

Plan to Recruit and Attract Graduates of Meharry Medical College Who Are North Carolina Residents for Whom State Financial Support Was Provided to Meharry Medical College

The plan is delineated into Recruitment Level I which focuses on the career conferences and publications and Recruitment Level II which combines the efforts of four agencies to accomplish the primary mission of the plan.

I. Recruitment Level I: Beginning in the fall of 1996 and annually thereafter:

A. Meharry Medical College staff in collaboration with the General Administration staff will conduct annual career conferences to inform prospective students of new efforts established to assist them in their return to practice in North Carolina upon completion of their medical or dental training.

B. The brochure, Contract Programs in Dentistry, Medicine, and Optometry at Out-of-State Institutions for North Carolina Students, 1996, will contain this additional Level II Recruitment information and will be disseminated to Health Career Advisors in all institutions of higher learning in North Carolina.

II. Recruitment Level II: Beginning in the fall of 1996 and annually thereafter:

A. Meharry Medical College staff will distribute to junior and senior medical students a list of the 12 residency locations in North Carolina.

B. Meharry Medical College staff will disseminate to junior medical students a list of opportunities for senior level experiences at East Carolina University, Duke University, Wake Forest University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in order to encourage them to apply for such opportunities to be visiting students.

C. Meharry Medical College staff in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Dental School will provide dental students with information regarding opportunities for practice in North Carolina.

D. The Office of Rural Health and Resource Development of Human Resources will provide professional recruitment assistance as consultation on practice selection, community and practice profiles, and travel assistance to approved sites. The office may also provide residency stipends for family practice residents who agree to practice in eligible underserved areas and to loan repayments and may provide other incentives to qualified primary care physicians who practice at designated underserved sites

E. The Area Health Education Centers Program will offer several types of clinical rotations to North Carolina to support Meharry Medical College students. These acting internships in internal medicine or pediatrics for fourth year students would be available at one of the AHEC's such as Greensboro, Charlotte, Asheville or Wilmington. Shorter visits will be possible to some of the AHEC residency programs in family medicine. In addition, the opportunity for clerkships will be available thus giving students the chance to gain firsthand experience with the faculty of the AHEC based primary care residency programs.

III. Measures of Progress and Success

The North Carolina Advisory Committee on Contract Programs will review and evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts and report to the Board of Governors on an annual basis through the General Administration staff assigned to the committee.