This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
“If GME programs aren’t even offer- Enjoy the country life


ing interviews [to students with lower passage rates], we [the council] feel that kind of thinking should have an in- fluence on the quality of physicians in Texas,” Dr. Cable said. He added that changing the medical license testing limits in Texas without taking that into consideration also could create a gap between state rules and medical school policies that harms students’ chances of getting admitted to residency programs. Provisions that require out-of-state physicians to have a track record before getting licensed in Texas may make leg- islation like SB 949 more “palatable,” he says. “But there have to be limits, and the [current] limits are reasonable and already being engaged by our training programs. We don’t want to say this is what we expect from people who train here but then change things if you came from somewhere else.”


San Antonio family physician K.


We’re the answer. C


apital Farm Credit has made


agricultural production, real estate and agribusiness loans for nearly 100 years. As a cooperative, we are proud to return almost 100 percent of our net earnings back to our customers through our patronage program — a distinct benefit of doing business with us.


877.944.5500 CapitalFarmCredit.com Follow us on TEXAS’ LARGEST RURAL LENDER


Rural Land Loans Residential Home Loans Farm & Ranch Loans Livestock &


Equipment Loans Operating Capital Real Estate


Appraisal Services


Agribusiness Financing


Leasing


Ashok Kumar, MD, finds himself some- where in the middle of the debate. As vice chair of medical student education in The University of Texas Health Sci- ence Center at San Antonio Department of Family Medicine, he, too, evaluates residency candidates and sees the value of having test standards. But as an in- ternational medical graduate (IMG), he also understands some of the extenuat- ing circumstances these and other stu- dents face that could unintentionally cause Texas to lose qualified physicians to other states.


The license exams are “definitely a


good screening tool,” he said, adding that students who attempt the test mul- tiple times are viewed as weaker candi- dates. That doesn’t always necessarily translate to being a bad doctor, “but we have to have some fundamental rules.” On the other hand, some IMGs, re-


gardless of their test acuity, may find themselves waiting an extra one or two years to get admitted to a residency pro- gram if they are waiting on a visa, for example. “They might qualify for Step 1 and Step 2, but now that there is so much competition for residency slots, they are waiting to get taken into a resi- dency program,” Dr. Kumar explained. That means the clock is ticking to


30 TEXAS MEDICINE February 2014


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60