Rural Medicine Commitment Scholarship?

[spork3546]

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A school I have been accepted to has a rural medicine program that I am debating applying to. It covers tuition for all 4 years (~300k total), but in return you have to commit to serving in a rural part of the state for 5 years post-residency. The program is offered to those going into primary care + general surgery. I'm interested in general surgery, but am not 100% on it and am worried I may change my mind during medical school and be stuck/forced to repay the scholarship. I'm also unsure where I will be in life after med school and residency (relationships, family, kids, etc.) and if serving in a rural part of the state will make the most sense at that time. On the other hand, however, tuition paid for all 4 years sounds like a great deal especially with the new grad loan caps. I also am definitely interested in the experience that rural medicine would be able to offer me, and 5 years doesn't sound like the end of the world.

Basically I'm wondering what others think is the best decision and if a program like this would be worth it despite possible drawbacks?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Apply only if you are 100% committed to rural medicine. If you aren't interested, give someone whose passion is rural medicine the chance. They and their patients will need it more, especially with the loan and repayment changes.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

This is why our current system to promote rural health is failing. These incentives are great, but it doesn't address the long term needs of these communities. Students take the free school, payback their time, then leave. There needs to be a bigger investment from these medical schools into actual rural outreach to promote science education early to help these students discover if they enjoy the field and to learn that a career in medicine is obtainable, not just a pipe dream. If you can promote an increase of students from these rural communities into higher education, they are more likely to return to a rural setting and stay long term, serving their community.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

This is why our current system to promote rural health is failing. These incentives are great, but it doesn't address the long term needs of these communities. Students take the free school, payback their time, then leave. There needs to be a bigger investment from these medical schools into actual rural outreach to promote science education early to help these students discover if they enjoy the field and to learn that a career in medicine is obtainable, not just a pipe dream. If you can promote an increase of students from these rural communities into higher education, they are more likely to return to a rural setting and stay long term, serving their community.

A lot of work was done by the founders of SDN to look at this topic. There are many systemic issues with incentivizing rural students to train as doctors and return to their communities. The payback scholarship arrangement is one piece of a larger system, and many programs such as RMED in Illinois involve more community and government involvement. But we need good rural clinical training sites for residencies (which UAB has done; we document this in Becoming a Student Doctor).

 

[LizzyM]

I hate to say it but many students from rural areas are happy to get out and aren't going back to where they care from. I feel for the folks who experience the churn of getting a new doc in town every few years and I feel for the docs who, if they don't arrive with a family in tow may find it difficult to find a spouse and settle down long term in the boonies.

 

[AJ25]

I'd go rural for 5 years if they paid all of my loans off. I could learn to churn butter and like it!

 

[spork3546]

I hate to say it but many students from rural areas are happy to get out and aren't going back to where they care from. I feel for the folks who experience the churn of getting a new doc in town every few years and I feel for the docs who, if they don't arrive with a family in tow may find it difficult to find a spouse and settle down long term in the boonies.

Yeah, I guess my biggest concern is in regards to your last sentence. I have no clue where I will be in life in, at a minimum, 7 years and am worried that my lifestyle at that point may not align as much with being in a rural setting as it does right now. Not having a crystal ball to look into the future makes a commitment like this that much more difficult. But yes, I also agree with everyone that this current way of recruiting rural physicians isn't sustainable, however it certainly is extremely enticing for lower income applicants like myself. The school also had someone reach out to me personally post-acceptance about this opportunity which is what really got me considering it as an option. I'm going to reach out to the program director and ask some more questions before making any further decisions about applying.

 

[Rabbsters]

Remember Tuition != Cost of Attending. I don't know which school you're talking about, but most schools that focus on producing rural physicians for their state aren't charging 80K in tuition/yr. So the scholarship might be less than the ~300K you're using for your decision.

 

[spork3546]

Remember Tuition != Cost of Attending. I don't know which school you're talking about, but most schools that focus on producing rural physicians for their state aren't charging 80K in tuition/yr. So the scholarship might be less than the ~300K you're using for your decision.

The school's tuition/fees are around 75k/year so ~300k for all four years. COA for all 4 is ~445k.