The average doctor now graduates with about $175,000 in medical school debt – a major roadblock for many considering medical careers, especially blacks and Latinos. But a new state scholarship program aims to reduce the burden to help more students of color become physicians. Bronx reporter Erin Clarke has the story.
By Capital Tonight Staff | October 9, 2017 @4:11 PM
A state-sponsored scholarship is helping its first round of med students reduce their debts and make the medical field more diverse. The Associated Medical Schools of New York says having the demographics of the profession match the demographics of the state means better results for patients here. And so the group is pushing to make sure the scholarship stays funded. We talked to Jo Wiederhorn from the association and Assemblyman Crystal Peoples-Stokes about how to do that.
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The Associated Medical Schools of New York on Tuesday announced its first 10 scholarships for disadvantaged and minority medical students to study in the state.
The organization’s new Diversity in Medicine scholarship program is initially funded with a $500,000 one-year grant from the state Department of Health.
The students were selected from among graduates of AMSNY’s post-baccalaureate programs, which offer a pipeline to med school by providing provisional acceptance to successful participants.
Each student will receive $42,000, an award that’s pegged to the cost of tuition and fees at a SUNY medical school. As part of their contract, they must agree to work in an underserved community in New York when they complete their medical training.
In the fall AMSNY will begin advocating in Albany for future budget allocations to continue the program, said Jo Wiederhorn, president of the group that represents the state’s medical schools. “We’ll ask for renewed funding for the 10 students, plus ask for money for another 10 students,” she said. “With the cost of medical school continuing to increase, I think it will help people make the decision to go work in an underserved area.”
From 2011 to 2015, just 12% of the state’s doctors were black or Hispanic—even though those groups accounted for 31% of the state’s population, according to the SUNY Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies. Research shows that having doctors from diverse backgrounds helps improve the quality of care in minority communities, Wiederhorn said. —R.S.
The program director of the state’s first program designed to diversity New York’s physician workforce has been recognized with a staff award of excellence for promoting inclusion and cultural diversity at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. The 27-year-old post-baccalaureate program, supported by the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) and UB’s medical school, has produced more than 400 successful graduates who otherwise would not have attended medical school.
Jaafar M. Angevin, post-baccalaureate program coordinator, Office of Medical Education in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, received the award during the school’s Faculty and Staff Recognition Awards.
Angevin was described as “the face of the medical school’s highly successful and often unsung post-baccalaureate program, which the medical school has hosted for a quarter of a century, and whose mission is to promote diversity in the physician workforce.”
At the event, Margarita Dubocovich, PhD, senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion, said: “Jaafar works tirelessly with the students in the program, helping to ensure their success and making sure they stay on track. Not only does he organize the program, but he is a cheerleader, a shoulder to cry on sometimes and an all-around counselor to the students. He is a major contributor to the overall success of the program.”
Contact: Jaime Williams, jaime@anatgerstein.com, 914-325-8877
(New York, NY) – Today, the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) announced the 10 recipients of the new Diversity in Medicine Scholarship program. The scholarship program was funded this year by the New York State Department of Health, thanks to the support of the legislature, to help address the gap in physician diversity.
According to data from the SUNY Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies, Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos made up only 12% of the physician workforce in the state between 2011-2015, compared to approximately 31% of New York’s population. Data shows that patients who have doctors who represent their own diversity have better medical experiences.
Thanks to a $500,000 investment from the state, the medical school scholarships — pegged to the cost of SUNY medical school tuition— will help students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine by eliminating the financial barrier to medical school enrollment.
“We are grateful to the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus Members, and particularly Assembly Members Blake, People-Stokes, and Perry, Chair of Caucus, who understand that having more doctors who represent the great diversity of New York state will further enable us to improve health outcomes,” said AMSNY President Jo Wiederhorn. “Thanks to them, we will improve opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds and continue to diversify our physician workforce.”
Assemblymember Michael A. Blake said: “Investing in our medical students of color is an investment in the future and with the inclusion of funding for the Diversity in Medicine Program in the 2018 FY Budget, that is exactly what we are doing. These funds not only go to support students from economically underserved areas but also to the communities they return to, increasing the number and quality of health service in these areas. The Diversity in Medicine scholarship creates opportunities by eliminating the economic barrier that many experience during medical school enrollment. Each year, this program will give ten distinguished students the opportunity to continue learning, growing and making The Bronx and all of New York a greater state and, most importantly, bringing diversity to our medical field. I congratulate President Jo Wiederhorn for her exemplary leadership, Assembly Member Crystal Peoples-Stokes who continues to be the champion of this great cause and my colleagues in the Legislature and Executive Office to once again secure the funds to invest in our students future.”
“Congratulations to Karole Collier and Bradley Frate on obtaining Diversity in Medicine Scholarships as UB Medical Students. May your passion to treat the sick and underserved and your desire to reduce health disparities inspire the next generation of physicians. While the mastery of academics is key, so is cultural competency and the willingness to understand how diet, exercise and life choices affect one’s health. This is why I have and will continue to strongly advocate for increased diversity in medicine,” stated Assemblywoman Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes.
The 2017 Diversity in Medicine Scholarship recipients are: Karole Collier, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo; Melissa Espert, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Bradley Frate, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo; John Lopez, Albany Medical College; Catherina Lubin, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine; Zacharia Mohamed, SUNY Upstate Medical University; Akya Myrie, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine; Diana Perez, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Sebastian Placide, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Nefertiti Tyehemba, SUNY Upstate Medical University.
The students were selected from among graduates of AMSNY post-bac programs, which provide students from economically or educationally underserved areas with provisional acceptance at a New York State medical school depending on their completion of one of three programs. The Diversity in Medicine Program, which is supported by the New York State Department of Health, has enabled 450 students from economically or educationally underserved areas to become doctors. The programs include the 25-year-old, one-year post-baccalaureate program at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, and master’s programs at New York Medical College, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and SUNY Upstate Medical University.
The Diversity in Medicine scholarship is available to New York medical school students from economically and educationally underserved areas. For many students, paying for a medical education is a daunting challenge— of the graduating class of 2015, 81 percent of medical students reported leaving medical school with student loan debt. Across the country, the median level of debt for the class of 2015 was $183,000, not including accrued interest.
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The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) is a consortium of the 16 public and private medical schools throughout New York State. AMSNY’s mission is to promote high quality and cost-efficient health care by assuring that the medical schools of New York State can provide outstanding medical education, care and research. The combined total of New York’s medical schools economic impact equals more than $85.6 billion. This means $1 in every $13 in the New York economy is related to AMSNY medical schools and their primary hospital affiliates. For more information on AMSNY, please visit: www.amsny.org
Dear Senator/Representative
On behalf of the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY), which represents New York State’s 16 public and private medical schools, we would like to express our strong concerns about the Administration’s proposed $7.2 billion reduction to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the FY2018 budget, and the proposed 10% cap on NIH Facilities and Administration (F&A) expenditures. If enacted, either of these proposals would prove devastating to the biomedical community in New York and we urge you to strongly reject these cuts. AMSNY joins the hundreds of biomedical research and patient advocacy organizations around the nation seeking $36.2 billion for NIH in FY2018.
New York State is unmatched in its concentration of world-class research institutions, which contribute significantly to medical advances and to the state’s innovation economy. New York ranks third in the nation in NIH funding, with approximately $2.2 billion accruing annually to our medical schools, research institutes and biopharmaceutical ventures. NIH funding supports more than 31,000 jobs at 176 institutions across the state. An analysis commissioned by AMSNY found that every dollar invested in academic medical centers yields more than $7.50 in economic activity in the state. In short, biomedical research is fundamental to New York State’s economy; any reductions in funding will have very real impacts on employment and growth in our life sciences sector.
F&A expenditures are an essential component of the research enterprise. Although sometimes referred to as indirect costs, F&A costs are in fact very directly related to research, including the actual costs of the researcher’s own laboratory (e.g., key laboratory employees, high-speed data processing, energy, and utilities), as well as required institution-wide costs (e.g., security protections, patient safety measures and the personnel who provide administrative, regulatory and maintenance services). Academic institutions already make significant investments of their own resources in these types of expenditures. Universities are the second leading investor in academic research and development (R&D), comprising 24% of total academic R&D funding ($16.7B in FY2015). A substantial portion of universities’ investments pay for F&A costs not reimbursed by NIH.
The Administration has justified the proposed 10% cap by citing similar restrictions on private foundation grants such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Ford Foundation.
This comparison is inapt; indeed many foundations explicitly note that their categorizations of direct and indirect costs are different than those used by the federal government and should not be used for comparison. An analysis by the Council on Government Relations demonstrates that the effective F&A rate as a percentage of total funding is quite similar between the federal government and private foundations.
Any reductions in NIH F&A reimbursements represent real cuts to research, and will have the direct effect of shrinking research programs, reducing the number of scientists and support staff employed in the sector and slowing the pace of medical advancement. These proposed cuts would also be very dangerous in a global economy, in which other nations have recognized that increased investments in biomedical research drive both internal economic development and international stature. We risk losing not only scientists, but also scientific discoveries, spin off companies, new therapies, and manufacturing companies to these countries.
On behalf of all your constituents – including scientists, physicians and patients – who value the important work done by our research community, we urge you to reject these proposals in the FY2018 budget and support continued robust investment in the NIH. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Sincerely,
Lee Goldman, M.D.
Chair, AMSNY
Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine
Chief Executive, Columbia University Medical Center
Michael E. Cain, M.D.
Vice Chair, AMSNY
Vice President for Health Sciences & Dean, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University at Buffalo
Mark B. Taubman, M.D.
Treasurer, AMSNY
Dean, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Chief Executive Officer, University of Rochester Medical Center
Dennis Charney, M.D.
Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System
Augustine M.K. Choi, M.D.
Dean, Weill Cornell Medicine
Mantosh Dewan, M.D.
Interim Dean, College of Medicine
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Wolfgang Gilliar, D.O., FAAPMR
Dean, New York Institute of Technology
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Robert I. Grossman, M.D.
Dean and Chief Executive Officer,
NYU Langone Medical Center
Kenneth Kaushansky, M.D.
Senior Vice President of Health Sciences
Dean, Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Douglas Miller, M.D., C.M., M.B.A.
Vice-Provost for Biomedical Affairs
Dean, School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Carlos N. Pato, M.D., Ph.D.
Dean, College of Medicine
Senior Vice President for Research, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Lawrence G. Smith, M.D., M.A.C.P.
Dean, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Physician-in-Chief, Northwell Health System
Allen M. Spiegel, M.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Montefiore Medicine
Dean, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Kenneth J. Steier, D.O., M.B.A., M.P.H.
Executive Dean and Chief Academic Officer
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Maurizio Trevisan, M.D., M.S.
Dean, CUNY School of Medicine
Vincent P. Verdile, M.D.
The Lynne and Mark Groban M.D. ’67 Distinguished Dean, Albany Medical College
Senior Executive Vice President for System Care Delivery, Albany Medical Center
(New York, NY) – The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) applaud Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for the just-passed FY2018 state budget that includes a significant investment in medical school research, as part of the state’s larger commitment to life sciences proposed by Governor Cuomo. The budget also funds the creation of a scholarship for students underrepresented in medicine. These investments represent broader policy goals that have long been advanced by the Senate, Assembly, and the Governor.
The state’s $20M investment in research will be matched by the medical schools 2:1 and will be used to create new labs that will focus on biomedical research that will lead to better treatment and cures for diseases that ail New York’s residents. The labs will also be economic drivers, creating well-paying research jobs across the state. The state’s 16 medical schools, which stretch from Buffalo and Rochester to Long Island will be able to apply to access this funding. New York State is home to more medical schools than any other state in the nation.
The state’s $500,000 investment will support the creation of a new medical school scholarship program for 10 new students each year. The students will be selected from among AMSNY post-bac program graduates. The 25-year-old post-bac program, which is supported by the New York State Department of Health, has enabled 450 students from economically or educationally underserved areas to become doctors. The scholarship, which will be pegged to the cost of SUNY medical school tuition, will create even more opportunities by eliminating the financial barrier to medical school enrollment. When fully funded, 40 students a year will receive the scholarship. Scholarship recipients will be required to work in underserved areas in New York State once they become doctors.
AMSNY estimates that for every $1 million invested by the State (matched 2:1 by the medical school recipient) will enable a school to recruit one world-class laboratory with approximately 8-10 employees. Research jobs are among the highest-paying jobs in the state, with an average salary of $74,000.
The State funds will be used for laboratory construction, purchase of analytic equipment and other expenses related to the recruitment and retention of scientific talent. New York has been a hub for medical discovery, not only producing world-class cures, but also giving state residents’ access to clinical trials that have improved and saved the lives of many. Cures discovered by researchers at New York medical schools include the first successful pediatric heart transplant (Columbia) first widely used vaccine against bacterial pneumonia (Downstate), the drug most prescribed for people suffering from relapsing multiple sclerosis (Buffalo), and the HPV vaccine (Rochester).
The new scholarships will help close the physician diversity gap: according to data from the SUNY Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies, underrepresented minorities (Blacks/African Americans; Hispanics/Latinos; American Indians/Alaska Natives) made up only 9% of the physician workforce in 2014, compared to approximately 35% of New York’s population. The scholarship will be available to New York medical schools for students from economically and educationally underserved areas. For many students, paying for a medical education is a daunting challenge— of the graduating class of 2015, 81 percent of medical students reported leaving medical school with student loan debt. Across the country, the median level of debt for the class of 2015 was $183,000, not including accrued interest.
“The New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators, and particularly Assembly Members Blake, People-Stokes, and Perry, Chair of Caucus, are our heroes. Thanks to them, we will not only further diversify our physician workforce, we’ll also improve patient health outcomes,” continued Wiederhorn. Data shows that patients who have doctors who represent their own diversity have better medical experiences.
(New York, NY) — Today, President Trump proposed slashing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by $5.8 billion, an 18% loss in funding, as part of his America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again. NIH funding is an essential element to New York State’s health care and economic sectors, and this cut is a direct threat to the future of academic research in New York State.
The NIH supports research to the tune of $32.3 billion a year in grants, including $2.2 billion in New York State alone. Because of its high concentration of world-class research institutions, New York ranks 3rd among states in total NIH funding awards, currently receiving almost 7% of total NIH funding. A reduction of the size proposed by President Trump would cut NIH funding to New York State by approximately $400 million.
NIH funding is what’s allowing researchers to discover cures and develop treatments for both the deadliest diseases and those that severely impact our quality of life. Currently researchers at medical schools across New York are working to make advancements against cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and numerous other diseases that impact countless people each year. Cuts to NIH puts the continuation of medical advancements, and our country’s health, at risk.
“The President’s proposed cuts would be devastating to academic research institutions in New York State and are a threat to future advancements in biomedical research, not to mention the serious economic impact to our health care sector,” said Jo Wiederhorn, President of the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY). “Researchers at New York’s world-class medical centers rely on the National Institutes of Health to fund studies ranging from basic science inquiries to large clinical trials, which lead to groundbreaking medical discoveries and improve the health of our nation, while generating significant economic activity.“
In New York State, NIH funding supports more than 31,000 jobs at 176 institutions. A study commissioned by AMSNY found that for every federal research dollar invested in New York State’s medical schools, more than $7.50 in economic activity is generated within the state. If enacted, these budget cuts would be devastating to the biomedical community and economy of New York.
“The Administration’s proposed plan to slash the NIH budget is shortsighted and would damage the U.S. economy and the health of Americans. Biomedical research is one of the crown jewels of American innovation. Every modern medical advance—from statins and stents to treat cardiovascular disease, genomic analysis that identifies babies who will benefit from early interventions, to cancer immunotherapy—is the direct result of investment in biomedical research. We implore Congress to reject the proposal,” said Lee Goldman, MD, MPH, Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, Chief Executive of Columbia University Medical Center, and Chair of AMSNY.
In addition to the loss of grant funding from NIH, the proposed elimination of key health programs as part of the 18% cut from the overall Health and Human Services budget is a serious cause for concern. These include eliminating the Fogarty International Center, block granting the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, downgrading the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and eliminating the Title VII and VIII grants for health professions training programs. These programs improve the health and safety of people in the United States and around the world, keep us safe and manage public health emergencies, and train health care professionals treating the most vulnerable citizens.
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The Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY) is a consortium of the 16 public and private medical schools throughout New York State. AMSNY’s mission is to promote high quality and cost-efficient health care by assuring that the medical schools of New York State can provide outstanding medical education, care and research. The combined total of New York’s medical schools economic impact equals more than $85.6 billion. This means $1 in every $13 in the New York economy is related to AMSNY medical schools and their primary hospital affiliates. For more information on AMSNY, please visit: www.amsny.org
Contact: Jaime Williams
914-325-8877
“We want to attract and keep entrepreneurial scientists here in New York,” she said. Cuomo’s initial announcement promised funding and tax incentives for life sciences companies and state capital grants for lab construction, but made just one mention of the role medical schools would play. It described a recruitment program to “attract top-flight life sciences researchers” but no funding was specified for that part of the initiative. “Now we’re trying to get that money,” Wiederhorn said. ‹J.L.
