Medical Student Education Program

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Medical Student Education (MSE) Program. The purpose of the MSE program is to provide support to public medical schools in the top quintile of states with a projected primary care provider shortage in 2025 to expand or support education for medical students preparing to become physicians. This expansion can include funding for pre-entry programs and direct student support which help students be successful in medical school, as well as for infrastructure development, maintenance, equipment, and minor renovations or alterations. The program is designed to prepare and encourage medical students in these schools to choose residencies and careers in primary care and serve tribal, rural, and/or medically underserved communities in those states after they graduate from residency. This will be accomplished by supporting the development of premedical school programs and medical school curricula, clinical training site partnerships, and faculty training programs that encourage students to choose further study in medicine and educate medical students who are likely to choose career paths in primary care, especially for tribal, rural, and/or medically underserved communities. The goal of the program is to increase the number of primary care physicians practicing in the top quintile of states with a projected primary care provider shortage in 2025. Program Objectives 1. Recruit, retain, and graduate medical students from tribal, rural, and/or medically underserved communities who are interested in practicing in these areas following residency training. 2. Increase the number of medical school graduates who select residency programs in family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, or combination of internal medicine and general pediatrics to increase the primary care physician workforce in tribal, rural, and medically underserved communities. 3. Develop or enhance strategic partnerships, including one or more rotations in primary care such as at a Teaching Health Center or community-based setting, to collaborate on educational and training activities for the medical students. For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations.

Per statute, funds must be awarded to public institutions of higher education in states in the top quintile of states with a projected primary care provider shortage in 2025. HRSA has determined that the eligible applicants for this funding opportunity are limited to accredited public colleges of medicine in Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, Arkansas, Missouri, and Indiana. The “State-Level Projections of Supply and Demand for Primary Care Practitioners: 2013-2025” indicate there are 37 states with a shortage in 2025.13 The top quintile of 37 states is 7.4. However, because the difference in adequacy scores between the seventh and eighth position was less than one percentage point, HRSA made a decision to include the top eight states: Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, Arkansas, Missouri, and Indiana. HRSA then identified accredited Osteopathic and Allopathic medical schools in those eight states using the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) and Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), selecting only those that identified as public, non-profit colleges of medicine. This resulted in 12 public, non-profit colleges of medicine within the eight states that are potentially eligible for MSE funding. HRSA has identified the following accredited public colleges of medicine in these eight states in the table below.

Anthony Anyanwu, MD

(301) 443-8437