There’s no shortage for the applicants but there is a shortage of money to provide them loans.
The director of the Office of Primary Care and Vermont Area Health Education Centers Network at the University of Vermont College of Medicine has said that a state program that helps pay off student loans to encourage health care practitioners to set up practice in underserved areas of the state continues to attract interest.
Establishment of Vermont Educational Loan Repayment Program
Started in the mid 1990s, in response to a shortage of health care professionals in rural parts of the state, particularly primary care practitioners,the Vermont Educational Loan Repayment Program for Healthcare Professionals was established. For doctors and other primary care practitioners, on yearly basis the program pays up to $20,000 in student loans, up to a maximum of six years, for each annual award with a one-year service commitment.
Lower Pays of physician in Vermont
Cote has said that with huge amounts of debt from $200,000 to $300,000 these physicians and nurse practitioners and physician assistants had been graduating so in their decision-making process about where they’re willing to work that has played a significant role, she also added that physician pay is lower in Vermont as compared to many other states and even lower in rural parts of the state.
