Southwestern University, Houston Methodist Hospital partner to fill health care workforce shortage

Health care workforce shortage

The Mayo Clinic says hospitals across the country could see thousands of physician openings. To help close that gap, Southwestern University is sending students into hospitals now.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - By 2036, the Mayo Clinic expects a physician shortage of nearly 140,000 people.

At Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, it didn’t take long for Southwestern student Erica Otto to see just how much she was needed,

"Every patient seems to say, ‘Oh, we need more doctors, we need more nurses, you’re choosing such a great profession,’" said Otto.

She joined a partnership this summer between Southwestern University and Houston Methodist Hospitals.

"The directors in them are actually having us do projects where we’re going around and collecting data from different parts or different units of the hospital," said Otto.

New children's hospital in northwest Austin

A new, state-of-the-art children's hospital will soon open in northwest Austin.

It's part of several new programs, where students rotate through hospital specialties like orthopedics, internal medicine, spiritual care, and even communications.

"Which actually is pretty awesome because I get to see a bunch of different specialties," said Luca Cipleu, a Southwestern University student in the program.

And, of course, it also goes great on a resume.

"Certainly, it’s like an amazing opportunity," said Cipleu.

But it might be just as helpful to the hospital.

By 2032, the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies projects the state will be short 57,000 nurses.

"My feeling is that there was a burnout through the pandemic," said Maria Cuevas, a biology professor at Southwestern.