PA bill would forgive med school loans

Hoping to keep newly-minted physicians in the state, a Pennsylvania state legislator has introduced a bill under which the state would pay off med school loans for physicians who stay there for 10 years or more. Right now, only about 8 percent of physicians who train at the state's medical schools end up practicing there. Meanwhile, the state's physician population is aging, with only 3 percent of its physicians under age 35. To slow this exodus, the state would pay the loans off at a rate of 10 percent a year for 10 years. If the physician was to change their mind and leave the state, they'd have to reimburse the state for the payments the state had already made. Early estimates suggest that such a program would cost about $40 million per year once it got rolling.

To learn more about the proposed legislation:
- read this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece

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