2021 Primary Care Physician Scholarship Recipients

Beth Smith
Beth Smith

Twelve medical students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix were accepted into the Primary Care Physician Scholarship Program for the 2021-22 academic year. The class also includes 11 students from the College of Medicine – Tucson.

Now in its third year, the program was established by the Arizona Legislature in 2019 to address the physician shortages in the state. The scholarship covers medical school tuition for students who commit to practice primary care in a rural or urban underserved community in Arizona. Earlier this year, the program expanded its eligibility to students specializing in general surgery.

The scholarship program was developed in partnership with and funded by a portion of $8 million approved by the Arizona Legislature and Gov. Doug Ducey in 2019. The scholarships, awarded annually, cover tuition for each recipient and are available to incoming and current students at the Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix.

The funds allow medical students to pursue careers in the traditionally lower-paying primary care practice areas without worrying about how they will repay their medical school debt. Each scholarship recipient agrees to practice medicine in a federally designated underserved community in Arizona for at least two years and up to four years after graduation and residency training.

College of Medicine – Phoenix Recipients

This story originally appeared in UArizona Health Sciences Connect.

Photo Credits: UAHS BioCommunications Team

About the College

Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to optimize health and health care in Arizona and beyond. By cultivating collaborative research locally and globally, the college accelerates discovery in a number of critical areas — including cancer, stroke, traumatic brain injury and cardiovascular disease. Championed as a student-centric campus, the college has graduated more than 800 physicians, all of whom received exceptional training from nine clinical partners and more than 2,700 diverse faculty members. As the anchor to the Phoenix Bioscience Core, which is projected to have an economic impact of $3.1 billion by 2025, the college prides itself on engaging with the community, fostering education, inclusion, access and advocacy.