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Show Report Cites Need For More Doctors In Western Region The 13 western states must substantially expand their nine existing medical schools and set up at least three new medical schools to keep pace with the population growth of the west. Moreover, planning for such expansion ex-pansion must begin now since it takes eight years or more to build a new medical school and graduate new physicians. Otherwise, Other-wise, the west will have fewer physicians in relation to its population pop-ulation than it has now. These are the major conclusions conclu-sions of a report on The West's Medical Manpower Needs, published pub-lished this week by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher High-er Education. Prepared by an advisory committee of leaders in medicine and education from every state in the region, the report's conclusions are based on the present ratio of physicians to population in each state. In most western states this ratio is below the national average and is declining. de-clining. In 1957, the west had 34,000 doctors and a ratio of 137 doctors per 100,000 population, according accord-ing to the report. To maintain present state ratios, the west will need about 21,000 more physicians by 1975. "Thus far the west has depended heavily Mexico, Hawaii, Nevada, and Wyoming. These states now use an interstate student exchange program, whereby states without schools of medcine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine can "purchase "pur-chase space" for their qualified students in schools of other western west-ern state. While this program has increased the number of western students in the western schools, it does not meet the need for more schools. Commissioners for Utah, appointed ap-pointed by Gov. George D. Clyde are Dr. G. Homer Durham, Salt Lake City, academic vice president presi-dent of the University of Utah; Dr. Lorin F. Wheelwright, Salt Lake City, and Clair R. Hopkins of Vernal. on outside sources for its supply of physicians. Since the entire country faces a physician shortage, short-age, it is uncertain whether the west can attract enough doctors from other areas to keep up with its rapidly mounting population. The report also points out that the west "should not count on the increased licensure of alien doctors to meet its manpower needs. "The west does not have a sufficient suf-ficient number of places in its nine medical schools to educate all qualified applicants from the west," the report states. "More than half of the students from western states without schools leave the region for their education." edu-cation." As other states impose tighter residence restrictions, the western students are almost certain cer-tain to be at an increasing disadvantage dis-advantage in the competition for available places." The advisory committee calls for "an immediate and substantial substan-tial expansion of medical education edu-cation and research," and points out that the "west should plan for at least 500 additional graduates gradu-ates per year. This would require re-quire an average 25 per cent expansion of existing, schools, plus the equivalent of three new medical schools of average size. A summary of the report was discussed at the recent Western Governors' conference. These governors asked the committee to study the possibility of "regional "re-gional medical schools" supported support-ed by two or more states, and other cooperative ways of meeting meet-ing the region's medical training needs. Eight western states have no medical schools of their own. They are Alaska, Arizona, New |