Skip to main content

Board of Medical Student Loans

Report

The Board of Medical Student Loans provides loans to medical students who agree to practice in rural areas or areas that are designated as medically underserved. Approved applicants agree to serve in an approved area for at least two years, or for one year for each year of support, whichever is longer. To be eligible for a loan, a medical student must be an Arizona resident, and plan to pursue a primary care career in family practice, pediatrics, obstetrics, or internal medicine.

Statutory changes are needed to clarify the types of areas in which doctors may fulfill service obligations. The Board has approved doctors to work in areas that do not meet the statutory definition of a medically underserved area. One doctor works in urban Mesa at a facility that provides services to uninsured alcohol and drug addicts. Although this doctor serves a medically needy, indigent population, the site is not a medically underserved area. If the Board wants greater flexibility to approve service areas that do not meet the current definition of "medically underserved," it should request a statutory change. Although the other four doctors work in areas that could be considered rural, the appropriateness of their practice locations is unclear since the Board’s statutes do not define rural. The report recommends that the Legislature amend the Board’s statutes to define rural areas.

The report also recommends that the Board modify applicant selection practices to ensure continued fair and equal consideration of all loan applicants. As a result of legislation adopted in 1999, students from Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine can now apply for loans in addition to students at the University of Arizona of Medicine. The report recommends that the Board adopt standard interview instruments and a scoring system.

Follow-Up Report