CLEVELAND, Ohio — News 5 remains committed to Following-Through on the stories impacting you.
We continue to highlight the challenges plaguing the healthcare industry, including overall staffing issues.
The pandemic changed the game and made many reconsider their career paths.
That, coupled with retirements, left a gap and critical need for primary care physicians across the country.
RELATED: Study finds 1 in 10 US children don't have a primary care doctor
New data shows Ohio is projected to be shy of 1,200 primary care physicians by 2025.
That's according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. will likely face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 by 2036, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The Cleveland Clinic is working to bridge the gap.
They partnered with a local university to offer a program that addresses the national shortage of primary care physicians.
The program provides students with an accelerated path to becoming doctors in a shorter window of time.
Officials say we have reached a tipping point in the industry.
Experts say many medical students are choosing specialized fields of medicine where they can make more money and focus on a particular field of care with a smaller patient load vs. primary care work.
However, these news doctors say this program is improving the situation, sharpening their skills with a hands-on approach.
They hope it encourages others to enter the field.
As Dr. Olga Grech walks the halls of the Cleveland Clinic and works with patients one-on-one, she says there's no better feeling than making a difference in someone's life.
She says aiding a child living with cerebral palsy during her undergraduate career solidified her choice.
It made her realize how important a career as a primary care physician would be for patients across the area.
"Family medicine, I believe, allows me to have that extra touch with the community that maybe I wouldn't have had if I did do a different career or picked a different specialty," Grech, Graduate Transformative Care Continuum, said.
She's part of the first class of students graduating from the Transformative Care Continuum.
It's a collaboration between Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Cleveland Clinic.
The goal is to address the national shortage of primary care physicians head-on—in an accelerated, innovative format.
"You're doing a three-year program. It hasn't been done before, but it actually, I think worked out perfectly. And we were able to be so well trained going into residency," Grech said.
The program is a hands-on, immersive experience.
Instead of students spending the traditional four years in medical school, they spend three years.
They are then given early admittance to family medicine residency programs within the Cleveland Clinic and skip the stress of an agonizing match process.
"I think this type of experiential training really helps them learn faster and really gets that kind of meaningful work and purpose back into their lives and primary care is a huge part of that," Dr. Sandra Snyder, Cleveland Clinic Family Medicine Program Director, said.
Students within the Heritage College Cleveland campus started the first-ever cohort back in 2018.
It's team-based, patient-centered care that focuses on a growing population.
They learned the ropes—working as MAs, care coordinators and patient educators.
They conducted research and immersed themselves in the medical field—working directly with healthcare teams in Cleveland.
"So we got a half day, per week seeing patients with one of the attending physicians at our residency site.
So not just you know, some random location in the area, it was our residency site that we were going to go to," Dr. Jacob Wolfe, Graduate Transformative Care Continuum, said.
The students studied, completed extensive research projects and worked through the ups and downs of the pandemic.
The graduates say these real-life encounters trained them for the next steps in their careers, and they were better able to understand the communities that needed the most support.
"It allowed me to learn more about social determinants of health, more about Cleveland as a city and what's going on with it health-wise. And actually being able to make projects and changes and get really connected with the different community partners that are in this area was so important," Grech said.
Both Wolfe and Grech will remain within the Cleveland Clinic post-grad—further developing relationships with patients in and out of the exam room.
"So I'm excited to, you know, continue to see patients and hopefully make an impact in their life," Wolfe said.
This first class of students officially graduated on June 30th.
Recruitment efforts are ongoing for future students.
To be a part of the process and enroll in the Transformative Care Continuum—click here.
