Doctors Could Get Up to $150,000 to Repay Student Loans in Exchange for Rural Service

Under a new student-loan repayment program, doctors in Colorado could get help paying off up to $150,000 of their student loans if they agree to work in one of the state’s rural and underserved communities (“Health Foundation Repays Doctors’ Loans for Rural Service,” Denver Business Journal, July 9, 2008).

The Physician Loan Repayment Program, which is supported by the Colorado Health Foundation, will award eligible doctors up to $50,000 a year for a maximum of three years if they serve in a qualified rural or urban Colorado community.

In a statement released Wednesday, the foundation said the program is designed to improve access to medical care in underserved communities. Currently, 57 percent of the state’s 64 counties lack enough primary-care physicians to sufficiently serve the population.

“There are many parts of Colorado that are in desperate need of primary care physicians,” said Dr. Jack Westfall, director of Colorado Area Health Education Centers. “Often the communities that are in most need of a physician have the fewest resources to recruit a doctor, leaving individuals to suffer worse health, and making it difficult to attract others to live and work there.”

Foundation officials said they hope the loan repayment program will give young doctors, who finish school with an average debt of $139,517 in student loans, the incentive to choose a rural doctor’s salary over the high pay medical facilities can offer in big cities.

This year, the program awarded more than $2 million to 18 physicians.

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