After a yearlong hiatus, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has begun accepting new applications for the state-funded Physician Education Loan Repayment Program.
The program incentivizes primary care and psychiatric physicians to practice in rural and underserved areas by paying off their student loans. It had stopped accepting applications in September 2020 due to pandemic-related budget cuts, according to THECB. This year, however, the Texas Legislature appropriated $14.5 million in annual funding for the program in the state budget for both 2022 and 2023, which helped it resume taking new applications. Funding for this program is generated through a state tax on certain types of smokeless tobacco.
The state-funded physician loan repayment program is one of the state’s most valuable tools for addressing the shortages of physicians in rural and underserved areas, says Marcia Collins, the Texas Medical Association’s associate vice president for medical education.
To qualify for the program, applicants must practice in an approved primary care or psychiatric specialty – including family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, and geriatrics – and agree to four consecutive years of service in a federally designated health professional shortage area or a state-operated correctional facility, among other requirements. More information can be found on the THECB website.
Program enrollees receive up to $180,000 toward their total loan balance over the four-year service term. THECB has approximately $4 million in state funding for about 133 new primary care and psychiatric enrollees for the one-year period that began on Sept. 1, 2021.
Last Updated On
October 27, 2021
Originally Published On
October 25, 2021
Emma Freer
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1383