UNM med school aims to double. Does New Mexico have enough residency slots to keep docs in state?

New Mexico has 84 accredited medical residency programs; 74 of them are offered through the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.

Nearly 800 of the approximately 850 resident physicians training in New Mexico are completing their residencies through UNM.

Unquestionably, UNM is the major institution training doctors in the state. And now, with patients clamoring for care amid a shortage of medical providers, the university has promised to double its medical school enrollment — expanding each class from about 100 students to 200 — over the next decade.

"We clearly have a health care provider shortage, and training doctors is one of the ways you can help address that," said Dr. Mike Richards, executive vice president of the UNM Health Sciences Center and CEO of the U