Finding a doctor in Texas is difficult. The state is facing a shortage of physicians — one that is unable to cope with the demands of a growing population.
Quantifiably, for every 100,000 people in the state, there are 204.6 physicians, per the Texas Medical Association. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates a dearth of 124,000 physicians in the United States by 2034.
What some schools are doing to encourage students to pursue medicine
In Houston, the issue of a doctor shortage is being handled in an innovative way, which encourages young school students to pursue the field of medicine.
The Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan Middle School, founded 10 years ago in a partnership between BCM and the Houston Independent School District (HISD), is tackling this through its STEM magnet program curricula with an emphasis on medical and biomedical sciences. The program is free for students.
“Science is everywhere in this school. Health professions and medicine are everywhere,” Dr. Nancy Moreno, professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, told ABC medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton. “We know that young people lose interest in science or get the idea that they might not be good in science very early, so it’s important to capture them while they’re still curious.”
According to the report, students learn about the cardiovascular system and the muscular system in the seventh grade and bioengineering and biotechnology in the eighth grade.
Students also learn about neuroscience and scientific decision-making and engage in activities with Baylor and other organizations in the Texas Medical Center, outside the classroom.
The school serves the Third Ward area and a part of Midtown Houston, and is situated just minutes away from both Texas Southern University and the University of Houston.
Students of color in the program
Around 777 students are currently enrolled, with a 94% minority and 60% economically disadvantaged population.
“When the school was formed it was to create a pathway so that students can have those experiences,” school principal Tanya Edwards told Dr. Sutton. “We are an open enrollment middle school, and so we’re not sitting looking at test scores and grades. You apply, you come in, you see that if this is a path that you would like to go on.”
According to a 2021 UCLA study, the share of Black physicians in the country has increased by only 4% in the last 120 years, and the percentage of male Black doctors has remained unchanged since 1940. It also highlighted the income gap between white and Black male physicians and the barriers these physicians face while pursuing careers in lucrative specialties.
“Programs like this, because they’re centered in communities, are more likely also to lead to physicians who want to return to their community and practice medicine in the community,” Dr. Moreno said.
Some other programs are working to address the racial disparity in the number of physicians. In 2011, 11 students started the Baylor chapter of Black Men in White Coats — an organization that aims to increase the number of Black men in medicine.
How the school came about
Ryan Middle School closed down in 2013, citing a low and declining student enrollment. A few months later, trustees decided to transform the campus into an open-enrollment magnet school through a partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine, which opened on the site of the former Ryan Middle School.
Interestingly, the James D. Ryan Middle School campus had originally opened as a school only for African Americans during the nation’s long period of racial segregation, and was only desegregated in 1970.
