As leaders look to address the state's physician workforce needs, the event showcases job opportunities at Iowa-based health systems for residents and fellows.
Story: UI Health Care Marketing and Communications
Photography: Tim Schoon
Published: Aug. 8, 2025
Nearly 100 University of Iowa Health Care residents, fellows, and their spouses gathered in a room overlooking Kinnick Stadium on July 31, 2025, to explore job opportunities at health care organizations across the state. Ten Iowa-based health systems, clinics, and critical access hospitals attended the event with the goal of encouraging medical trainees to stay in Iowa to practice medicine.
UI Health Care hosted the event, which was co-sponsored by Great River Health, Iowa Hospital Association, Iowa Medical Society, and Physicians' Clinic of Iowa, as part of a broader initiative to address the state’s physician workforce needs. Iowa’s physician shortage, particularly in rural areas, is far greater than most U.S. regions. The state ranks 44th in the nation for its patient-to-physician ratio.
Serving all Iowans by educating future physicians
“UI Health Care’s mission is to serve all Iowans,” says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the Carver College of Medicine. “One way we are accomplishing this is by leading the way in educating and training the state's future generations of health care providers. As the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, we play a critical role in addressing the state’s physician workforce needs. This career fair is an excellent example of how we are collaborating with other health systems and community partners to improve physician retention and health care access across our state.”
Nearly half of Iowa’s physicians receive medical education or training at UI Health Care, making it a vital resource for health systems across the state seeking medical talent. However, the number of Iowa medical school graduates currently exceeds the number of resident spots available in the state, requiring many medical school graduates to leave the state to complete their residency – a gap that legislators and medical school administrators are working to close.
The evening mix-and-mingle gave representatives from other Iowa hospitals and health systems a chance to meet with our best and brightest trainee physicians, all with the goal of addressing the physician shortage across the state.
A multi-faceted approach to solving a complex problem
“There are no simple, quick fixes to this complex issue, so we are taking a strategic, multi-faceted approach to encouraging UI medical student and resident graduates to stay and practice in Iowa,” says Gerard Clancy, MD, the chair of UI Health Care’s physician workforce task force and senior associate dean for external affairs at Carver College of Medicine. “We know we need to lay the foundation early on, which is why we are also focused on increasing the number of qualified Iowans who apply to medical school at Carver College Medicine, as well as the number of medical student graduates who match in Iowa-based residencies.”
Magdalena Maginot, MD, a public psychiatry fellow from Valparaiso, Indiana, attended the event to learn more about hospital systems within commuting distance of Iowa City, where she and her husband have purchased a home and intend to raise their family.
“The career event made me realize that exceptional care happens across the state in many different hospitals,” she says. "It made me excited to explore opportunities outside of an academic setting after I graduate.”
"We want all our medical students and residents to know about the many opportunities there are to make a real difference in health care and people’s lives right here in Iowa,” says Clancy.
