UK's latest federal grant to increase number of primary-care doctors in rural Kentucky includes new scholarship opportunities

Medical students Katelin Maggard and Anna Cox on the College of Medicine-Bowling Green Campus, a partnership of UK, Western Kentucky University and Med Center Health. (Photo by Clinton Lewis)

By Allison Perry

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky College of Medicine has received a four-year, nearly $16 million grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. UK will get $3.97 million a year over the next four years to support efforts to increase the number and diversity of primary-care physicians in Kentucky, with the ultimate goal of improving health-care access in underserved areas of the state.

The physician shortage is not unique to Kentucky, nor is it limited to primary care. A2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges estimated that national demand for all physicians will exceed the existing supply by 37,800 to as many as 124,000 by the year 2034.

In Kentucky, 61% of the greatest physician needs are in rural areas. In rural and under-served areas, primary-care physicians are often the residents’ only exposure to any health-care professional, highlighting the need to improve access to these physicians.

UK's Rural Physician Leadership Program trains students

at Morehead who are interested in practicing rural medicine.

(UK photo by Jorge Castorena)

The UK College of Medicine has worked with academic and clinical partners to meet this growing need through four regional campuses in Lexington, Morehead, Bowling Green and Northern Kentucky, and graduated the largest-ever class this past spring.

These partnerships were a key to getting the new grant, which will focus on expanding pathways to support students who are interested in medical school and providing scholarship opportunities for medical students who choose primary care as a career path.

The goal is not just to increase the number of primary care physicians in the state, but to encourage new physicians to practice in underserved communities upon graduation, said Charles “Chipper” Griffith III, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine.

“As a physician who has provided primary-care services for patients of all ages, I can tell you firsthand how important it is for people to have access to these providers,” Griffith said. “An established relationship with a primary care physician is a first line of defense against acute and chronic illness and injuries. We not only provide treatment for illness, but we actively work to help our patients prevent it by identifying risk factors and screening for disease. In a state that suffers from high rates for many chronic, preventable diseases, increasing access to primary care is a critical step in improving the health of our citizens.”

Path to primary care can start in middle school 

UK already had several programs to provide educational experiences as students navigate the pre-med journey. With help from the new grant, these programs will place a greater focus on primary care, which includes family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, or the combination of internal medicine/pediatrics commonly known as Med/Peds.

The pathway to a medical career begins years before students reach college. Educational opportunities need to begin early — ideally, by the eighth grade, says James Ballard, director of UK's Center for Interprofessional and Community Health Education.

Promising students are identified with teh help of UK’s Area Health Education Center program, a collaborative effort between UK, the University of Louisville Health Science Centers, and eight regional centers. They provide support to help students meet their goals, including assistance in planning which classes to take in high school, help with applying for college, and encouragement from health-care role models.

At the high-school level, AHEC offers two free residential summer camps at UK that will be revised and funded through the new grant. The Summer Enrichment Program, for rising high school juniors, is a residential camp that allows students to gain some early college experience by spending three weeks learning, observing, and working hands-on with UK faculty, health professionals and health professions students. The program will add more mentoring specifically from primary-care physicians to provide more specific education on what a primary-care physician can do for patients, and understand how primary-care physicians function in a collaborative system.

The Health Researchers Youth Academy takes a similar approach, but is more tailored to the research side of a medical career. The residential programs connect high-school students with researchers, teach them research methods, and give them experience working in a laboratory. At the end of the camp, students will present their findings through poster presentations. In terms of primary care, the camp will educate students more on a primary care physician’s role in translational research — in other words, how basic science at the bench ultimately becomes a part of everyday patient care.

Though the Center for Intreprofessional and Community Health Education aims to create more health professionals across all spectrums, it will extol the benefits of choosing primary care, Ballard said.

“We’ve always exposed students to a variety of professions in the past, but we want to get more specific when it comes to primary care. We want them to understand ‘This is what a primary care physician does, this is why it’s important, this is why it’s valuable to you’,” Ballard said. “It’s amazing what primary care physicians can do, especially in rural and underserved areas. We want to show them what a difference they can make in their community by choosing this as a career.”

New initiatives funded by this grant will include two post-baccalaureate programs for students who have graduated from college, to provide opportunities for students to complete prerequisites for medical school and/or receive additional support and training to improve their chances of being accepted into medical school; a pre-matriculation program to prepare incoming medical students for the rigors of the curriculum and to highlight the benefits of choosing primary care as a career path; and a primary-care scholarly concentration, which will include targeted coursework and an enhanced community clinical rotation at a rural teaching health center.

Reducing debt for future primary care physicians

Research shows that students with large college debt are less likely to choose primary-care specialties because they have lower compensation in comparison to specialty and sub-specialty practices. Also, these graduates are less likely to practice in underserved communities.

The new grant will also allow the College of Medicine to provide up to $2.88 million a year in scholarships to students with demonstrated interest in primary care.

The new scholarships are positioned to decrease the debt burden by half for 80 students, and by a quarter for an additional 32 students. By reducing this burden, the team anticipates that more students will be likely to follow their passion for rural medicine and making a difference in underserved communities.

“Investing in the education of medical students through scholarships is not just an act of philanthropy, it’s an investment in the future of health care in Kentucky,” said Dr. Stephanie White, senior associate dean in the College of Medicine. “This award will be life-changing for our students who wish to pursue a career in primary care and have the desire to make a difference in underserved communities. These scholarships won’t just alleviate financial burden — they will empower dreams and nurture the talents of our next generation of primary-care physicians.”