FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – A non-profit is awarding its first scholarship to help address the shortage of primary care doctors in the Valley.
San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation is awarding the first scholarship at Central CA Blood Center.
The award is $55K a year for 4 years, but the organization’s goal is to pay full tuition for 20 medical students who commit to 4 years in Central Valley.
The supply of primary care physicians and other health professionals is dwindling. By 2030 the state could lose 10,000 primary care clinicians, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Remote rural and inner-city residents, persons of color, the elderly, those with mental illness or addiction, and those without health coverage have already felt the impact. The Central Valley has long endured provider shortages and suffers from some of the worse health outcomes in the nation.
-San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation
The foundation says the full medical debt runs anywhere from $250 to 400K every year.
Funds from the San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation would help students afford to become Primary Care doctors and work in underserved areas.
California is facing a growing shortage of primary care physicians, one that is already afflicting rural areas and low-income inner-city areas and is forecasted to impact millions of people within 10 years. Not enough new doctors are going into primary care and a third of the doctors in the state are over 55 years of age and nearing retirement age, according to a study by the Healthforce Center at University of California, San Francisco. That means by 2030 the state is going to be in dire need of physicians and other medical professionals. Studies show that attrition could result in the state losing 10,000 primary care clinicians, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Some areas — the Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern Border region — will be hit especially hard. Remote rural and inner-city residents, communities of color, the elderly, those with mental illness or addiction, and those without health coverage, will especially feel the impact.
Three Central Valley physicians and a hospital CEO have decided to tackle this problem head on by forming the San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation.
Dr. Sergio Ilic says he retired years ago, and went back to work full time because they are so short.
Among the causes of the physician shortage:
· High student loan debt induces medical students to go into specialty care, which pays more than primary care – only 36 percent of doctors provide primary care.
· Low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for primary care drive doctors away from low-income areas and primary care.
· Primary care physicians often shy away from rural areas, opting instead to practice in big cities near medical centers and specialists.
· Health professional students do not reflect the diversity of the state, which also influences where new doctors and other health professionals choose to practice.
You can visit the website www.sjvmedicalscholarship.org. to learn more about the scholarship.
San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation awards scholarships to help medical students from rural areas and other disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Valley with full tuition costs. Once they reach their goal of becoming a doctor, the newly licensed provider will return to the Valley to establish their career while helping to ensure there are sufficient numbers of health care professionals in the Central Valley for years to come.
-San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Foundation
To Apply For The San Joaquin Valley Medical Scholarship Click Here.
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern.
