To the editor:

I want to thank Andy Hyland for bringing the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education (WCGME) to the attention of your readers in his article “KU Med School in Wichita faces controversial criticism” (Feb. 12).

Unfortunately Hyland’s article only focused on some unfounded criticism of WCGME and our programs. So I am writing to correct misimpressions that his article may have left.

WCGME coordinates and oversees 13 residency programs in Wichita and one in Salina. We have approximately 270 residents in training at any given time. All of our programs are fully accredited and none have ever been on probation. Our graduates are all fully qualified and highly sought after and make up the backbone of the health care delivery system throughout most of the state. Our graduates are practicing in 70 of the 105 counties in Kansas. Fifty-five percent of all of our graduates remain in Kansas to practice, compared with the natural average of 45 percent. And, more impressively, 64 percent of our family medicine graduates remain in Kansas to practice.

We have appeared before committees of the Legislature to request additional funding from the state in order to continue training these highly qualified physicians for the state. We appreciate their support on behalf of WCGME and the citizens of Kansas.

Dr. Donald R. Brada,
chief medical officer,
Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education