Old Westbury, NY – Led by a nationally renowned authority in health policy research, a group of NYIT experts will study challenges facing medical and health professions and recommend ways to improve healthcare services around the nation.

NYIT's Center for the Future of the Healthcare Workforce, directed by Dr. Richard ‘Buz' Cooper, will explore current issues such as the physician's shortage, the role of nurses and other healthcare professionals in delivering care, and the best ways to ensure equitable services for all citizens. The center will be based at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) of NYIT.

"The whole idea of the center is to gather contemporary data in order to assess where we are and where healthcare is going and, from that, to project the need for healthcare workers" said Cooper, who has written widely about the shortage of medical doctors and economic and demographic trends that affect healthcare. "Our goal is to lay out an agenda for workforce training that is based not only on healthcare needs but on thoughtful assessments of the pipeline of students entering higher education and the ways that the education process can match their career interests with the future needs of patients."

Two years ago, Cooper, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and NYIT honorary degree recipient in 2010, co-authored an analysis of physicians' practices under healthcare reform with other experts, including Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, NYIT's vice president for health sciences and medical affairs. Several NYIT faculty members, including School of Health Professions Dean Patricia Chute and Director of Nursing Susan Neville, will work with Cooper on the new center's research and recommendations.

"Part of our effort will be to look at the workforce from an educational perspective—whether or not we need to change how we educate different specialties, particularly the specialties and disciplines involved in primary care," said Ross-Lee.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 89,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Elaine Iandoli
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