YOUNG: We are pricing out our providers

YOUNG: We are pricing out our providers YOUNG: We are pricing out our providers If Tennessee needs more physicians, nurses and advanced practice providers, it must ensure that institutions like Vanderbilt have the capacity to train them and that prospective healthcare professionals can afford to enter these fields. By Maggie Young, Deputy Opinion Editor Oct 13, 2026 A view of Benton Chapel, Stevenson Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center from a distance, as photographed Sept. 11, 2025. (Hustler Multimedia/Corey Lochan) Corey Lochan Healthcare is useless if no one is there to provide it.  That concern is no longer hypothetical: A federal proposal could significantly reduce the amount future providers can borrow to finance their education.  Providers are the foundation of a healthcare system’s ability to actually deliver adequate care. Without enough physicians, nurses and other clinicians, access to healthcare becomes increasingly difficult regardless of how the system is financed or the availability of medical products.   Today, the availability of these providers is becoming a pressing concern across the country. While this is mainly localized to nonmetro areas, across the United States there has been an ongoing clinician shortage that is projected to continue worsening into 2038.   Tennessee, especially Nashville, currently faces a significant healthcare workforce shortage. As of now, the state has a deficit of approximately 15,000 nurses and is projected to face additional shortages of approximately 3,900 physicians and 8,500 nurses by 2035.  These shortages will not affect every part of the state equally. Nashville, as Tennessee’s healthcare hub, is particularly significant to the state’s healthcare workforce and will face its own consequences as the number of available clinicians declines.  Nashville has built a reputation as a healthcare capital. It is home to major healthcare companies, hospitals, medical institutions and nearly one-fifth of Tennessee’s healthcare providers, at 19.3%.  However, all of this does not signal immunity from the clinician shortages facing the state. Instead, its large concentration of healthcare providers means that a statewide decline in the healthcare workforce could leave Nashville vulnerable to the broader implications of a shrinking workforce.  Addressing this shortage begins at the rudimentary level of how clinicians are able to practice medicine and provide care: education. Healthcare professionals in the United States must complete years of education, clinical training and, in many cases, graduate or residency programs. The capacity to train these professionals is dependent on both the institutions providing that education and the students’ ability to afford it.   When funding for healthcare education is reduced, the effects can extend throughout the workforce pipeline. Training programs may have fewer resources to educate students, while prospective healthcare workers may face greater financial barriers to completing advanced degrees. At a time when Tennessee needs more physicians and nurses, limiting the capacity or accessibility of these programs risks further narrowing the pipeline of providers entering the workforce.  At the same time, the causes of Tennessee’s healthcare workforce shortage are not limited to education funding. Physician retirements, burnout, population growth and the geographic distribution of healthcare providers all contribute to the growing gap between the number of clinicians available and the number needed. However, the education pipeline remains one of the few areas where policymakers can directly influence how many healthcare professionals are trained and ultimately enter the workforce.  This makes recent changes to federal education policy particularly concerning. A proposal from the Trump administration would remove nursing from the U.S. Department of Education’s “professional degree” classification, which would reduce the federal student loan limit for graduate nursing programs from $200,000 to $100,000. For students pursuing advanced nursing degrees, that reduction could create an additional financial barrier to entering the field. The Tennessee Nurses Association has called for protecting education funding, expanding advanced practice registered nurse practice authority and increasing, rather than limiting, enrollment in nursing programs as part of addressing the state’s growing need for healthcare professionals.  The consequences of a weakened training pipeline extend directly to Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt University operates a prestigious graduate medical education program, training physicians who will go on to practice throughout the state and beyond. Vanderbilt also plays a significant role in training advanced practice providers, who can help fill gaps in physician availability. If the pipeline that produces these clinicians weakens, Vanderbilt cannot simply manufacture more providers to fill the gap.  Fewer clinicians in Nashville could mean longer waits at Student Health, less access to specialists and greater strain on the medical system Vanderbilt students rely on. When federal legislation can limit the capacity to train healthcare professionals, the effects will eventually reach the patients those professionals are meant to serve. Tennessee’s healthcare workforce shortage cannot be solved by education funding alone, but weakening the pipeline will make an already difficult problem harder to address.   If Tennessee needs more physicians, nurses and advanced practice providers, it must ensure that institutions like Vanderbilt have the capacity to train them and that prospective healthcare professionals can afford to enter these fields. Healthcare access ultimately depends on having enough people to provide it, and protecting the pipeline that produces those providers is an essential part of protecting healthcare in Tennessee.  The opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Hustler. View Story Comments 2 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Email this Story Print this Story Tags: health care Trump Administration VUMC Leave a comment About the Contributors Maggie Young, Deputy Opinion Editor Maggie Young (‘29) is from Falmouth, Maine, and is majoring in medicine, health and society with a minor in business. When not writing for The Hustler, she enjoys playing piano, traveling and spending time with friends. She can be reached at [email protected]. Corey Lochan, Editor-in-Chief Corey Lochan (‘27) is majoring in human and organizational development and mathematics in Peabody College. He previously served as Copy Editor and Deputy Life Editor. When not writing for The Hustler, you can find him swimming, hiking or complaining about his classes. He can be reached at [email protected]. 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