Medical Education

Why do we need the MedEx Academy?

Why is this important to our community?
  • Quality health care is a vital asset that allows us to compete for economic development investment, which means jobs. 
  • Health care is the largest industry in the US and the second largest employer, with more than 11 million jobs. 
  • Greenville Hospital System is the largest employer in Greenville County with almost 10,000 employees, and it is expecting to grow to meet the needs of a growing population 
  • The shortage of physicians in South Carolina means our state ranks 43rd in the nation for primary care physicians per 100,000 residents. We are falling behind the nation and our Southeastern state neighbors. 
  • Our state isn't just short in physicians: We need more nurses, more pharmacists, more EMTs and paramedics. 
  • We need to build a pipeline that we can feed to prepare our future workforce. The GHS Medical Experience Academy will be a key component in helping to make that happen.
Why is this important to our country?  

    Health Care and Careers  
  • Health care is the largest industry in the US and the second largest employer, with more than 11 million jobs. 
  • Virtually all new private sector jobs over the past five years came from health care.
    Supply and Demand  
  • The United States faces a looming shortage of many types of healthcare professionals within the next 10 years. 
  • Growth of the American population and the aging of the baby-boomer generation will continue to increase the demand for healthcare services and providers. 
  • More than 10 million people in America already have chronic illnesses or suffer from degenerative conditions. 
  • Ove the next decade we will need at least 20,000 more physicians specifically trained to care for elderly patients. 
  • We will need 3.5 million more healthcare workers to meet the increasing demand in addition to the 2 million who will leave health care.
    Education and Training  
  • Advances in fields like genetics and information technology will create additional workforce requirements that we cannot even begin to estimate. 
  • We will need more and different kinds of practitioners and technicians. 
  • The hurdles to degrees in the health professions include extensive math and science, advanced education, daunting debts and lengthy training. 
  • The future health care workforce will come largely from generations X and Y.(Xers and Yers appear more interested in work that can accommodate their families and personal lives.) 
  • Our country faces worsening shortages of faculty members in the health sciences (This will have a direct impact on filling health care workforce needs.)
  • MedEx Academy Education Board
    Workforce Planning (Practitioners and Academicians)
  • The crucial factor facing the health care workforce is lack of comprehensive workforce planning on the parts of academe, government and the healthcare professionals. 
  • Shortage sin the healthcare workforce are not local or isolated issues – they require attention at all levels. 
  • The institutions that educate the nation’s future healthcare professionals must work together to devise innovative solutions. 
  • Alarming disparities in health status continue to plague our nation – a diverse workforce is needed to address the issues. 
  • The workforce shortfall in health care cannot be resolved in the marketplace alone – it is time for organized action.