Iowa House lawmakers passed a measure March 12 that would require at least 80% of students admitted to the University of Iowa's medical and dentistry colleges to be Iowa residents or people enrolled at Iowa colleges, KCCI Des Moines reported March 13.
Rep. Ann Meyer said in the report that the measure will require the Board of Regents to adopt a policy requiring a higher percentage of Iowa residents make up the student body at these colleges, ultimately leading to more people staying in the state to practice after completing their education and residency.
In 2024, 70% of students at the University of Iowa's College of Medicine and College of Dentistry, both in Iowa City, were Iowa residents, according to data from the Legislative Services Agency. However, the Association of American Medical Colleges found that, from 2008 to 2017, only 45.2% of Iowa medical practitioners remained to practice in Iowa after completing residency training, lower than the 54.2% national average among states.
Ms. Meyer said that more recent data found that between 2020 and 2024, 81% of Iowa residents left the state after graduating from University of Iowa's medical school.
"Unfortunately, University of Iowa's retention of the physician workforce in Iowa is not providing the results for the entire state that we'd like to see," Ms. Meyer said. "And this bill aims to make improvements while continuing the exceptional medical training received at University of Iowa Health Center."