U of Texas Rio Grande Valley medical school to offer incentives in primary care recruitment effort

Megan Knowles -

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine in Edinburg, Texas, received a $2 million grant to increase the number of primary physicians in the Rio Grande Valley area, according to a Brownsville Herald report.

The grant aims to retain recent graduates and recruit talent interested in establishing primary care practices in the area or working as faculty at the school of medicine. "There has been a relative disproportionally low number of primary care physicians in the Valley," said John Krouse, MD, PhD, dean of the school of medicine. "It would allow us to provide much better access to care to people, much closer to home."

The grant money would create incentive packages to cover salaries, relocation costs and student loan repayment, Dr. Krouse said. The university has 139 residents throughout nine different hospital-based programs in the Valley area. The university expects the number of residents to be over 200 by 2019.

The grant takes effect Jan. 1, 2018 and can provide incentives through June 30, 2021.

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