Caring for
Idaho’s Rural
Communities
Approximately 88% of Idaho’s total land area is classified as rural, and 28% of Idaho’s population call rural communities home. Lack of primary care in Idaho’s rural communities poses an immediate and growing threat to the health of the entire state.
If there aren’t primary care providers, people are less healthy...everything that we love about Idaho starts to be affected.Dr. Robin D. Sebastian, MD Family Medicine Physician in Emmett, ID.
Program
The Primary Care Initiative (PCI) offers an opportunity for medical education debt repayment for rural physicians who practice primary care medicine in federally-designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or similarly underserved areas.
- Urban
- Rural
How It Works
PCI awards are limited to a maximum of $100,000 payable over a four-year period – $25,000 per year. Eligible physicians must be a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), and have completed an Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) residency.
For the purposes of the PCI, primary care medicine refers to:
- Family Medicine
- General Internal Medicine
- General Pediatrics
If there is a demonstrated high level of need in an eligible area as determined by the PCI Board, it may also include obstetrics and gynecology, general psychiatry, general surgery, and emergency medicine.