The state's doctor shortage could get worse if the Legislature makes further cuts to a program that helps physicians train at Arizona hospitals, members of the medical community told lawmakers Wednesday.

"Residency programs are the single best way to grow your physician population," said David Landrith, vice president of policy and political affairs with the Arizona Medical Association. "Nothing else works as well."

Landrith and others addressed the Senate Healthcare and Medical Liability Reform Committee about graduate medical education programs, which take doctors fresh from medical schools and give them on-the-job training with internships and residencies around the state.

The programs get money from the state's general fund, which is then matched 2-to-1 by federal funds. Closing a deficit in the budget for the fiscal year ending in June, lawmakers cut $7 million allocated for the programs, meaning a $21 million loss overall.

With further cuts a possibility as lawmakers address an even larger deficit for fiscal 2010, health care experts and physicians reminded committee members of the programs' importance in attracting physicians to the state.

Dr. Javier Cardenas, a neurologist with Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, said he chose to practice at Barrow because he completed his residency there.

"If I didn't have this opportunity, the likelihood of me practicing in the state of Arizona is very low," Cardenas said.

He said many physicians end up practicing where they train because they often get married or start families during their three to eight years in the programs, and they become a part of the community.

Dr. Michael Grossman, associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Arizona, said investing in doctors makes sense financially.

"It is an economic driver for the state," Grossman said. "The hospitals are major employers. It's a big economic machine that medicine brings."

Ultimately, Grossman said, Arizonans will take the hit when it comes to their health if lawmakers make further cuts to graduate medical education programs.

"The bottom line is: If we don't train our physicians well, we're not going to have any good physicians to take care of us," he said.