Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Komadina

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/16/08

01/24/08 HB

SHORT TITLE

Med School Recruitment of Rural Undergrads

SB 7

ANALYST Hanika-Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$250.0 Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 7 appropriates $250 thousand from the General Fund to New Mexico Highlands

University in FY09 to establish a demonstration and research program to prepare undergraduate

students from small universities for successful entry into medical school or related fields. The

programs include a focused undergraduate curriculum, summer science academies, remote

learning, medical school entrance examination preparation and mentoring by rural physicians

and physicians associated with the New Mexico Hispanic Medical Association.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General

Fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to

the General Fund.

This funding request was not on the list of priority projects submitted by NMHU to the New

Mexico Higher Education Department for review and was not included in the Department’s

funding recommendation for FY09.

Senate Bill 7 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

It is anticipated that the funding requested will help develop and grow the small existing pre-med

program at the University and help meet the need for more medical professionals in rural areas of

New Mexico. According to enrollment data submitted to the New Mexico Higher Education

Department, in the Spring 2007 semester a total of 301 medical students were enrolled at UNM

Medical School. Out of 301 students only ten of those students, which is approximately 3%,

graduated from a smaller university in New Mexico. Two students graduated from New Mexico

Highlands University, five graduated from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and

three graduated from Western New Mexico University.

HPC reports that a recent 2006 survey of physicians in New Mexico shows the majority (77%) of

the active patient care physicians are white. Hispanic/Latino physicians made up the second

most numerous group, representing about 11% of active patient care physicians. The remaining

groups (American Indians/ Alaska Natives; Asians and Pacific Islanders; African-Americans;

multiple race/ethnicities; and others) made up about 12% of the active patient care physician

workforce in 2006.

The DOH reports that there is evidence that health care providers from small rural communities

are more likely to return to similar communities to practice their profession. The difficulty in

recruiting students from these communities to health career tracks is due, in part, to the limited

availability of pre-professional courses in small school districts, and the lack of formal training

opportunities for entrance exams. This approach may help increase the number of

underrepresented minorities in the health care field working with racial and ethnic minorities

living in rural areas of the state.

SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HPC notes that the Shortage Designation Branch in the HRSA Bureau of Health Professions

National Center for Health Workforce Analysis develops shortage designation criteria and uses

them to decide whether or not a geographic area or population group is a Health Professional

Shortage Area (HPSA) or a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or Medically Underserved

Population (MUP).

•

HPSAs may have shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers

and may be urban or rural areas, population groups or medical or other public facilities.

•

MUAs may be a whole county or a group of contiguous counties, a group of county or

civil divisions or a group of urban census tracts in which residents have a shortage of

personal health services.

•

MUPs may include groups of persons who face economic, cultural or linguistic barriers

to health care.

More than 34 federal programs depend on the shortage designation to determine eligibility or as

a funding preference. About 20% of

the U.S. population resides in primary medical care HPSAs.

Every NM County, except Los Alamos County, has a type of shortage designation. Of the 33

NM counties 17 have whole county designation and three have partial or total low income

designations.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The New Mexico Highlands University will need to seek other funding for this program.

AHO/jp:bb