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.

Nursing Shortages

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.

Pharmacist Shortages

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.