With a physician shortage ailing healthcare at the local and national levels, one Midwestern health system has a plan to address the problem by paying tuition and recruiting new clinicians right out of school.
Aspirus, which serves the north central Wisconsin and Upper Michigan areas, has launched the Aspirus Scholars Program, according to ABC10. Under the program, students training to be doctors and advanced practitioners (such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants) will receive scholarships in exchange for committing to working in Aspirus’ primary care, general surgery or psychiatry departments down the road.
Students will get anywhere from $70,000 to $150,000 for employment commitments ranging from three to five years, according to the article. If all goes according to plan, the hospital’s service area could have up to 62 new providers by the year 2030. In recent years, experts have floated similar incentives to reduce care shortages in rural areas.
“This is a collaborative effort to address the health needs of people and position communities to prosper from the economic value that a full complement of medical providers offers beyond the provision of patient care,” John Tubbs, chair of the Aspirus Health Foundation Board of Directors, told ABC10.
Aspirus’ strategy mirrors recommendations from August’s Wisconsin Medical Education and Workforce 2016 report (.pdf), which found 86 percent of doctors who grow up, attend medical school and receive residency training in the same state go on to practice there. The report projects a physician deficit of as many 2,000 in the Badger State by 2030.