The 3-year MD Primary Care Accelerated Program (PCAP) is designed for medical students interested in practicing primary care in Arizona. This 3-year accelerated curriculum is focused on serving rural, tribal, and underserved communities in Arizona and will be coupled with existing 3-year primary care residency programs in the state serving vulnerable populations.

The application for the 3-year MD PCAP will open in late Fall of 2025. Matriculated students from the Class of 2028 and 2029, currently enrolled at the UA COM-P, will have the opportunity to apply. This is a competitive application process with limited capacity.

A primary physician practices Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, or General Pediatrics in the community and is frequently the first contact for patients. They care for patients over their lifespan (longitudinal care). A primary care physician evaluates, diagnoses, and treats patients presenting with symptoms and signs of disease, provides preventive care (mammograms, pap smears, vaccines), and manages chronic and acute illnesses.

In contrast, a specialty physician trains to develop a deep understanding of specific systems and their interactions and impact on health and disease states. Ex: Endocrinology, orthopedic surgery, cardiology, psychiatry, etc.

What about care for hospitalized patients? Is that primary care? A primary care physician can care for patients in the community, the hospital, and various settings. A physician who exclusively practices hospital-based medicine with no outpatient practice is referred to as a hospitalist. This practice model is not considered “ambulatory-based” primary care. While internists, pediatricians, and family medicine physicians may choose to be hospitalists, many specialties provide hospital-based practice models.

  • Arizona has a significant primary care shortage, currently ranking 43rd in the nation for primary care access and adequacy. With population growth, the demand for primary care physician access is expected to face severe shortages over the next several years.
    • Over 600 primary care doctors are needed across Arizona today to address this crisis, and the projected need is expected to be greater than 2000 by the year 2030.
    • 25% of current primary care physicians (PCP) in Arizona are age 65 and above, with implications for retirement and a further decrease in the PCP workforce.
  • Communities are healthiest when adequate access to primary care physicians is available. Data supports the importance of access to primary care and its impact on health and life expectancy.

Yes, this program results in one year of tuition savings and living expenses and allows physician salary (earning) to begin earlier. Additional scholarship/grant funding may be available to assist with travel and housing costs.

For some students in the 3-year MD program, a tuition scholarship for the duration of enrollment in the program will be available. This could result in an estimated total financial savings of $300,000 or more depending on the scholarship award and 1st year earning potential.

Students who are accepted into the 3-year MD PCAP will be paired with sites across Arizona based on capacity, site availability, and future practice location preferences.

Students from a rural or tribal community wishing to return to practice in the same community will have preferential placement at these sites.

The success of these programs is enabled by the longitudinal relationship between faculty, medical students, and residency training programs at the training sites. Students learn about the residency program, while the residency team at the site learns about the students. If early on in the 3-year process a site change is required, depending on availability and capacity, opportunities will be explored. If this happens further into training or a site change cannot be accommodated, the student will need to “off ramp” and re-integrate into the traditional U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix 4-year MD curriculum. The student can continue to pursue their interest in a career in primary care in the 4-year MD program.

Yes, a student may “off ramp” and reintegrate into the 4-year MD program during their MS1 year, or if they experience academic delays, such as a Step 1 delay, need to remediate a course in the first or second year, or face an unexpected life circumstance that necessitates a delay in training.

We have LCME (accrediting body for US MD programs) endorsement and Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) approval for this innovative curriculum. It is made possible with careful planning at specific sites where there is need, matched with the capacity to provide excellent training to medical students in this model. The 3-year curriculum is focused on primary care specialties.

If you reintegrate to complete the 4-year MD program, but remain primary care bound, scholarship funds received will not require repayment. Keep in mind, however, that some scholarship funding is also tied to service in Arizona after residency. If you have received primary care scholarship funding that specifies commitment to primary care along with a service commitment after residency, and you enter a non-primary care specialty, this scholarship funding will cease and may need to be repaid via an interest-bearing loan depending on the scholarship source.

No. The 3-year accelerated program is designed to pair our students with the primary care residency programs in our state, allowing the students to reach the workforce earlier and help address Arizona’s physician workforce shortage

The 3-year PCAP is designed for students who are passionate about primary care and aspire to practice in Arizona. Students will be paired with a site that has a residency program based on student and site interests and compatibility. As much of the clinical training (clerkship rotations) as possible will occur at this paired site to foster a longitudinal relationship and best prepare students for the next phase of training.

There may be an opportunity after year 1 should a student decide they would like to pursue a career in primary care in Arizona. This will depend on the number of students enrolled in the 3-year MD program, as well as residency slot availability from one year to the next. Any student who determines they are interested in primary care prior to the end of their first year should contact the 3-year curriculum team to explore potential opportunities.

Yes. There are approximately thirty (30) medical schools with 3-year MD programs, along with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and – Tucson. Several have had successful 3-year programs in primary care for many years. The COM-P is part of the collaborative Colleges of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs (CAMPP), the national support organization/network for the 3-year medical school curriculum. Click here to view the bibliography/research this group has published to date.