The USM in 2010:
Responding
to the Challenges that Lie Ahead
Health Professional Shortages
Maryland, like the rest of the country, faces a shortage of qualified
pharmacists and a severe shortage of nurses.
Maryland and the nation face a severe shortage of nurses. In fiscal year
1998, according to the Jacob France Center, Maryland's public and private higher
education institutions produced only about 57% of the 1,550 registered and
licensed nurses needed. Currently, five USM institutions provide nursing
programs: Bowie State University, Coppin State College, Salisbury State
University, Towson University, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Nationally, within the next five to 10 years the number of nurses leaving the
profession will exceed the number of new entrants. In Maryland alone, the number
of registered nurses available to work dropped by 2,300 between 1998 and 1999.
Reasons for the shortage are complex and involve multiple factors, including
an increasing diversity of career options for women, an aging nursing workforce,
a growing population of hospitalized patients who are older and sicker, and
technological advances requiring more highly skilled nurses. This shortage has
broad implications for the delivery of cost-effective, high quality health care.
USM Response
USM institutions will:
- Intensify recruitment initiatives at USM nursing programs to attract more
students into the field. In particular, these programs will strengthen
marketing and media efforts to revitalize the public image of the nursing
profession and will work to increase awareness among middle and high school
students of the career opportunities for both men and women in nursing.
- Enhance interdisciplinary health programs through area health education
centers and elsewhere to foster a spirit of partnership between and among
health professionals.
- Implement new articulation agreements within their institutions and with
the community colleges to facilitate a seamless transition from lower
division to upper division study in nursing.
- Continue to expand access to nursing education in the Baltimore
metropolitan region and through outreach centers (in Montgomery County,
Hagerstown, Easton, Waldorf, and Cumberland) through distance learning
technology.
Maryland is facing a shortage of licensed pharmacists. Community pharmacies,
nursing homes, hospitals, and managed care organizations cannot fill open
positions.
The
shortage is driven by several factors, including a huge increase in the number
of prescriptions due to the increasingly rapid development and approval of new
medications; more direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies;
and greatly expanded insurance coverage for prescriptions.
The number of prescriptions dispensed nationally increased from 1.2 billion
in 1993 to 2.8 billion in 1998 and is expected to reach 4 billion in 2005.
However, the number of pharmacists available to dispense prescriptions has
remained relatively constant.
Maryland has only one program that prepares pharmacists -- the University of
Maryland School of Pharmacy -- and currently must import about 50% of its
pharmacists from out-of-state. As it seeks to do so, Maryland must compete,
particularly with neighboring states, for an increasingly scarce supply. The
need for pharmacists is particularly acute in medically needy areas of the
State.
Exacerbating the stress on resources across the country and in Maryland has
been the phasing out of the bachelor's in pharmacy and the transition to only
doctorate in pharmacy degree programs. This longer period of study is necessary
to meet the increasing complexity of the pharmaceutical field due to the rapid
growth in new drugs and the sheer volume of prescriptions. Unfortunately,
existing State financial aid programs are targeted to undergraduates and provide
little support for students seeking advanced health care degrees.
USM Response
The University of Maryland, Baltimore will:
- Expand enrollment by 15% in fall 2000. (However, this increase will exceed
the capacity of existing facilities and will stretch existing faculty to the
limit.) The School will also increase the number of pharmacists who graduate
from its programs by funding and supporting special recruitment efforts to
attract qualified graduates and will support advanced pharmacy education to
train faculty and practitioners.
- Establish partnerships with hospital and community pharmacists to support
increased internship opportunities and will work with community colleges to
develop and enhance pharmacy technician programs.
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