The University of North Texas’ College of Science is partnering with Midland College to help solve the rural physician shortage in Texas, according to KERA.
The two schools have created a program that allows students to complete their undergraduate and medical school in seven years rather than eight. Called the Primary Care Pathway Program, it requires two years at Midland College and one at UNT before students move onto medical school at UNT, KERA reports.
A 2015 study from the North Texas Regional Extension Center highlights the physician shortage in rural areas. It shows that 57 percent of the physicians in the state live in counties with only 44 percent of the states population. Counties with less than 40,000 people are home to nearly nine percent of the state’s population but less than three percent of the state’s physicians.
Read and listen to the KERA story here.
