Keeping Physicians in West Virginia
West Virginia has the highest ratio of medical students per 100,000 people in the nation , according to a 2022 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges . However , many of those students complete residencies outside the state , and physicians tend to stay within a 100-mile radius of where they complete their residency .
In an attempt to support and increase the rural workforce in the state , programs like WVU Medicine ’ s Rural Scholars Program and Marshall University ’ s Rural Health Initiative are aiming to place interested physicians in rural areas .
WVSOM prioritizes admissions of rural students and requires students to work in rural settings for part of their clinical training . WVSOM ’ s Rural Health Initiative program allows students to participate in an enhanced rural and underserved primary care curriculum that addresses the specific health challenges often accompanying rural industries . The initiative offers the Rural Physician Scholarship Program to students who are committed to serving in underserved areas of the state .
The Choose West Virginia Practice Program offers nonresident West Virginia medical students a tuition waiver for the cost difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition . Recipients of this opportunity must agree to practice in a primary care or shortage specialty in the state for at least one year .
The U . S . Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration awards the National Health Service Corps Scholarship to students pursuing a career in primary health . Recipients commit to practicing in a community with limited access to care for one year of service for each year the scholarship is awarded , with a two-year minimum commitment .
Many experts agree that an important part of encouraging physicians to practice in West Virginia is loan repayment .
“ Communities could also look for ways to incentivize physicians to commit to practicing in that area with programs that offer loan forgiveness or loan repayment based on serving a certain number of years in the area ,” says Norman Ferrari , M . D ., chief academic officer for physician medical education and vice dean at the WVU School of Medicine . “ This could potentially help with the redistribution of workforce with the hope that when those years of
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE