NJIT And Seaton Hall Announce Projects To Tackle Shortage Of Primary Care Physican Training Facilities In New Jersey

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has announced a collaborative project with Rowan University to establish a new medical school that will focus on training primary health professionals. This partnership has come to fruition after nearly a year of negotiations in light of a shortage of doctors in New Jersey. "New Jersey currently is suffering a well-documented physician shortage. By 2020, it is estimated there will be a shortage of 2,500 physicians in New Jersey," said a spokesperson from Seaton Hall who are also planning on running medical professional training facilities.

The two projects have been established in an effort to boost the number of family doctors and physicians in the region. Both projects are hoping to secure state funding for establishing the two facilities. Seaton Hall and their project partners, Hackensack University Health Network, have recently secured a $20 million fund for their school, while NJIT has secured a $10 million proposed fund under the new state budget.

The public focus to maintain their health due to the shortage of general practitioner availability has led them to turn to healthy lifestyles. This is reflected in the Family and Community Health Sciences' (FCHS) recent collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture to train people in the food service industry in promoting local produce in communities. The funding for this program has been approved by the US Department of Agriculture who provided a two year grant of $340,250 to utilize school gardens as a source of growing healthy food. This grant will also include training programs to educate people in the benefits of consuming a produce rich diet.

Alternative medical methods are also widely practiced by the residents in New Jersey. These methods range across a number of therapy facilities available in the city. Business that provide spa treatments, massage therapies and reflexology are commonly available as suitable alternatives to family medicine in New Jersey. "These treatments are meant to support, but not replace, traditional medicine," said Frank Esposito, VP of Expert Home Care. New Jersey citizens have historically complimented several methods with each other to meet their health demands.