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The National Health Service Corp loan repayment program will allow her to choose where her and her husband practice as long as the clinic meets criteria as underserved by federal standards.  The NHSC scholar program will too, but fewer clinics meet the strict federal criteria.  I am a 2nd year physician assistant student at OHSU.  I want to work for a general internist or family physician and also focus on preventive medicine.  Thankfully, my debt will be approximately $100,000 and not a quarter of a million!  Two people in my class are NHSC scholars and are looking to work in Oregon upon graduation.  Personally I could not make the large commitment to NHSC at this time, because my husband must work in an urban area and there are only a few clinics in Portland that qualify. Hopefully Oregon will develop other systems whereby physicians can obtain debt relief in exchange for providing critical access to medically underserved communities.  Best of luck to the medical student and her husband on the show as they move forward with their education and decision making process. 

As a side note, I would be interested to hear a TOL discussion on healthcare that includes the roles physician assistants play in providing care to Oregonians.  PAs and Nurse Practitioners are relatively new professions and are commonly called “midlevel providers.”  Laws concerning medical practices of PAs and NPs differ, but both can help attenuate the physician shortage we are currently facing.

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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