Four years of medical school has been gifted to 30 students by an anonymous donor of more than $3 million to the University of Houston, CBS News reported.
The money was donated on Wednesday to UH’s new College of Medicine and the school decided to use it to pay for four years for its first class of 30 students who will begin their studies in 2020.
“Student debt is the number one deterrent for students when applying to medical school,” said Renu Khator, president of UH. “This generous gift will allow such students an opportunity to attend and ultimately lead the future medical workforce.”
Health website Stat recently found the average debt that medical school graduates carry has risen from $161,739 in 2010 to $179,000 in 2016.
However, in the greater Texas area, medical education could still be a comparatively good deal – which could explain why the state churns out so many graduates yet it is still gripped by a shortage in doctors, The Dallas News noted.
Recent data shows that Texas ranks right at the bottom when it comes to the ratio of primary care physicians to 100,000 people.
The News said that 80 counties have five or fewer practicing doctors while 35 have none at all and, with many sick and aging populations living in rural areas, the need is set to increase.
In light of this, UH said it was aiming for at least 50 percent of each graduating class to specialize in primary care, ultimately serving to “enhance quality of life and strengthen Houston as a business destination.”
The UH College of Medicine will accept applications for its 2020 class next year and, according to KHOU, a preference will be given to Texas students with an interest in practicing medicine in the state after graduation.
“We really want to train people who will practice in underserved areas of our state, both inner-city and rural, because we have great needs in both," said the school dean, Dr. Stephen Spann.
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