First Federally Qualified Health Clinic residency program opens in Kentucky, with hopes of bringing more rural doctors to state

Update, Aug. 8, 2024: Dr. Jerry Eddis has since resigned from the program. 

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

Kentucky's first residency program operated by a Federally Qualified Health Center opened July 1 in Northeast Kentucky, with hopes that the resident doctors will set up practice in rural Kentucky after they complete their training. 

The PrimaryPlus Family Medicine Residency Program will be headquartered in Maysville, Ky.  The primary focus of the residency program will be family medicine with plans to use specialty services such as obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics to provide residents with a well-rounded experience.

Dr. Tyler Elam

Dr. Tyler Elam, director of the residency program, said FQHCs can play an important role in training physicians because of the populations they serve, who are largely indigent, uninsured or underinsured.  

"I think there is a greater . . . mutual benefit for having the learners present in an FQHC," he said. "It helps us close care gaps for the indigent, while also being able to train new physicians."  

Kentucky's program is one of 81 Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education programs that operate in 24 states and Washington, D.C., said Elam. 

Research shows that medical students who trained in rural areas are almost twice as likely to practice in rural areas whether or not they grew up in a small town, a topic explored in a blog post from the National Rural Health Association. Further, studies shows that physicians from rural backgrounds were more than twice as likely to practice in a small town, compared to urban counterparts.

And that is the goal of the PrimaryPlus residency program. "That really is part of our mission, is to train them here and keep them here," Elam said. 

There is a great need for rural primary care physicians in Kentucky, according to the 2022 Kentucky Physician Report from the University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health. The report says 43 of 120 Kentucky counties meet the criteria for a primary care physician Health Provider Shortage Area. Nearly 73% of of Kentucky's 2,741 primary care physicians practice in urban counties despite the majority of the population living in rural counties.  

PrimaryPlus's residency program will bring four new primary care residents into the state each year.

The first class of residents are Dr. Devaki Dravid and Dr. Jerry Eddis, both from Pennsylvania. Devaki received her medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Long received his from American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine. Dr. Brion Long is from Breckinridge County, Ky. and Dr. Sara Roberts is from Bath County, Ky. Both Long and Roberts attended the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of Pikeville. 

Elam said the new residency slots will help to meet the ongoing demand for more primary care physicians, especially as baby boomers continue to need more care.  

"There's not necessarily enough residency spots to keep up with the increasing medical school class sizes. And so, you know, there's like a supply and demand mismatch as a result," he said. "So the more residency spots we can open up, it definitely closes that care gap downstream."

Already, Elam said the resident doctors have been able to close some of the care gaps in the community and have contributed to the wellness of the medical community, who often work short-staffed. 

"The residents are thriving and loving it here," he said. "They'll come to my office and be like, 'Man, this is so great. I didn't know that learning could be like this. I feel like I'm part of the team. I feel like I'm making a difference. And I feel like I'm learning simultaneously.'"