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Home Research Research Library Healthcare Workforce Implications of Physician Student Loan Repayment Funding Healthcare Workforce Implications of Physician Student Loan Repayment Funding 2023 Author(s) Davis, Caitlin S, Peterson, Lars E, and Bazemore, Andrew W Topic(s) What Family Physicians Do Keyword(s) Rural Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine Context: As the average level of medical education indebtedness rises, physicians look to loan repayment programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). This increase in PSLF uptake translates to growing taxpayer investment, while service-based programs like National Health Service Corps (NHSC) continue to assist a relatively small proportion of physicians with more stringent service commitments.Objective: The authors set out to study differences in the demographics, the scope of practice, and likelihood of practicing with a medically underserved population or a rural area in early career physicians who choose different loan repayment options.Study Design: Bivariate analysis of differences in demographics, practice location and scope between physicians who participate in Public Service Loan Forgiveness repayment and those who are National Health Service Corps membersSetting or Dataset: Data from over 10,000 American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) National Graduate Survey (NGS) respondentsPopulation Studied: Early career Family PhysiciansIntervention/Instrument: Self-reported loan repayment assistance modality, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, National Health Service Corp, Military repayment, Indian Health Services repayment, and other state-based and private loan forgiveness schemesOutcome Measures: Demographic indicators including gender, race, ethnicity, degree type and international graduate status, and practice-based measures of location, scope and population servedResults: The authors found that the rate of PSLF uptake tripled between 2016 and 2020 while NHSC uptake remained static. Those physicians reporting NHSC assistance demonstrated broader scope of practice, were more likely to practice in areas that were rural (23.29% to 10.84% PSLF) or full Health Professions Shortage Areas (12.5% to 3.70% PSLF) and were more likely to work with medically underserved populations (82.17% to 24.22% PSLF).Expected Outcomes: While PSLF is intended to assist graduates engaged in public service, analysis suggests it is less effective than NHSC in directing physicians to underserved settings. These findings may prompt a reconsideration of funding goals and outcomes monitoring of service-based loan repayment assistance. ABFM Research Read all 2021 Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma Go to Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma 2020 Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine Go to Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine 2022 Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives Go to Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives 2012 The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care Go to The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care
Author(s) Davis, Caitlin S, Peterson, Lars E, and Bazemore, Andrew W Topic(s) What Family Physicians Do Keyword(s) Rural Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2021 Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma Go to Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma 2020 Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine Go to Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine 2022 Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives Go to Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives 2012 The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care Go to The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care
2021 Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma Go to Mobility and social deprivation on primary care utilisation among paediatric patients with asthma
2020 Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine Go to Early-Career and Graduating Physicians More Likely to Prescribe Buprenorphine
2022 Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives Go to Barriers to care for perinatal patients with opioid use disorder: family physician perspectives
2012 The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care Go to The impending crisis in the decline of family physicians providing maternity care