The University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix has awarded eight students with primary care physician scholarships.
Recipients are:
- Kathryn Blevins
- Merrion Dawson
- Megan Kelly
- Alicia Leslie
- George Nguyen
- Jasper Puracan
- Abigail Solorio
- Maryssa Spires
The scholarship program, announced in November , aims to address the statewide primary care physician shortage and student debt. In exchange for free tuition, scholarship recipients have pledged to practice primary care in underserved areas of Arizona after their residency training.
Funding for the scholarships is provided through $8 million in annual funding appropriated by Arizona lawmakers last year.
"This was an incredible win at the Arizona Legislature, and it took everybody coming together," Robert C. Robbins, MD, president of the University of Arizona, said in a news release. "The primary thing was to make sure that we keep our brightest and best physicians here in Arizona."
Overall, the state has an immediate need for more than 600 primary care physicians to overcome the state's physician shortage.
More information about the program is available here.