[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 93 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1202]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

                                 ______


                           HON. PETER DEUTSCH

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 1995
  Mr. DEUTSCH. Mr. Speaker, while health care reform legislation has 
been temporarily set-aside for other pressing business, we can not 
neglect the important issues raised during the health care reform 
debate.
  A major focus of several of the proposals involved the need to 
increase the number of doctors providing primary care services. Today, 
too many new physicians elect to practice specialized medicine where 
they can earn higher salaries. As a result, there is a deficiency in 
the number of physicians that practice general family health care or 
primary health care.
  I would like to direct my colleagues' attention to the efforts of Dr. 
Robert Ross, chairman and founder of Ross University School of Medicine 
located on the Island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Dr. Ross has 
greatly contributed to reversing the trend in the declining numbers of 
primary care physicians. Dr. Ross opened Ross University in 1978 with 
just 13 students. Since that time, over 2,500 students have received 
medical degrees from the university. In fact, Ross University 
celebrated its 33d commencement on June 3, 1995, at the United Nations. 
Ross University graduates have continued on into medical residency 
training and medical practice all over the United States.
  Ross University is committed to academic excellence and requires its 
students to complete the basic sciences portion of the curriculum in 
Dominica.Then, they return to the United States to complete their 
clinical clerkships in teaching hospitals. Recently, I toured the 
campus in Dominica and found the facilities to be of the highest 
quality--utilizing state-of-the-art technologies.
  In addition, many Ross University graduates have set up their primary 
care practices in rural and urban areas that would otherwise go without 
the attention of a physician. These foreign-trained medical students 
help fill the critical shortage of primary care physicians. In fact, 
over 20 percent of the practicing doctors in the States of Michigan, 
North Dakota, Illinois, Connecticut, and Delaware were educated outside 
the United States. In New Jersey, the figure is 33 percent, and in New 
York this number is nearly 50 percent.
  Dr. Ross and Ross University provide a valuable service to the 
American people. I urge my colleagues to examine the contribution 
foreign medical schools can make with respect to primary health care.


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