CLINTON, Miss. (WJTV) – A new report shows physicians are bringing thousands of jobs to the magnolia state generating billions of dollars.
As WJTV’s Margaret-Ann Carter reports state leaders are working to find ways to keep medical students from leaving the state.
Governor Phil Bryant has played a major role in keeping medical students within the magnolia state, from building a new medical university, to working with the legislature to create incentives.
“It’s been better than we thought. If you look at for example the legal environment tort reform was huge for us as Governor Barbour help lead that effort and we could not get physicians to come to Mississippi as soon as they graduated they left, and that’s one of the top issues that we’ve been able to be very successful with,” Governor Phil Bryant said.
The data released by the Mississippi State Medical Association and the American Medical Association shows physicians have created more than 51,000 jobs in Mississippi, generating $8.2 billion for the economy.
“Rather than sending our talent out of the state of Mississippi we’re able to keep it in Mississippi and then we’re able to really be an economic driver for rural communities because not all of our communities are going to be able to attract major industry but they can attract a physician to come into their community and really make a large economic impact,” Wahnee Sherman, executive director of the MS Rural Scholarship Program.
One way they’ve been able to keep physicians in Mississippi is with the Rural Physicians Scholarship Program, where they’re able to put doctors in areas that need it most.
“It’s great to know that we have the support of these rural communities in our state because 0part of the scholarship is learning more about the more about the healthcare and so I think that we are able to do a lot of good and to have these communities that really welcome us into their communities,” Elizabeth Dorroh, a student at William Carey in Hattiesburg.
Elizabeth Dorrah has been able to see the positive impacts first hard in her local community of Raymond, MS.
“It’s been great for me to see the impact and we actually got a physician just about 5 years ago on our main street 8in our town and so that has been such a great thing for that community even th9ough it’s a little close to Jackson it’s hard for the community to get down the road or to the medical center,” Dorrah said.