Service Obligation
The Medical Student Loan Program is a loan program that provides funds to medical students at West Virginia’s three medical schools. Loans are forgivable if a recipient practices within certain specialty areas located in rural and underserved areas of the state.
Recipients may complete residency and/or fellowship in West Virginia or in other states and are expected to start practice following completion of residency and/or fellowship programs and are expected to start full-time work at an approved practice within nine months of completion of residency and/or fellowship programs.
Recipients can obtain loan forgiveness one year for each year they receive a loan (a maximum of 4 years). Annual submission of employment is required to keep accounts in good standing. Recipients are responsible for securing employment at a practice site that is eligible for loan forgiveness should they wish to not be required to repay the award(s).
For practice to qualify, it must BOTH be in a qualifying specialty area and meet at least ONE of the criteria for being underserved.
Qualifying specialty areas:
- Family Medicine
- OB/GYN
- General Internal Medicine
- General Pediatrics
- Adult or Child Psychiatry
- Addiction Medicine
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- General Surgery
- Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery
Underserved area criteria (your practice must meet at least ONE of the following criteria):
- Be in a geographically designated HPSA county for Primary Care. Geographically designated HPSA counties in West Virginia can be found at https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/hpsa-find.
- Be in a healthcare facility with a facility-based HPSA designation. A directory of facility based HPSAs can be found at https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/hpsa-find.
- Be at any healthcare facility in WV if documentation is provided that more than 50%of patients over the past 6 months are on low income programs like Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, VA Benefits, free services, or sliding scale services.
Once employment has been secured, you will need to submit annual verification of compliance with the service requirements to gain forgiveness. Employment is reviewed
and approved or denied by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and is submitted to your medical school to be applied towards your account with Heartland ECSI.
For practice to qualify, it must be in a qualifying specialty area OR meet at least ONE of the criteria for being underserved.
Qualifying specialty areas:
- Family Medicine
- OB/GYN
- General Internal Medicine
- General Pediatrics
- Adult or Child Psychiatry
Underserved area criteria (your practice must meet at least ONE of the following criteria):
- Be in a geographically designated HPSA county for Primary Care. Geographically designated HPSA counties in West Virginia can be found at https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/hpsa-find.
- Be in a healthcare facility with a facility-based HPSA designation. A directory of
facility based HPSAs can be found at https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/hpsa-find. - Be at any healthcare facility in WV as long as documentation is provided that more than 50% of patients over the past 6 months are on low income programs like Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, VA Benefits, free services, or sliding scale services.
Once employment has been secured, you will need to submit annual verification of compliance with the service requirements to gain forgiveness. Employment is reviewed and approved or denied by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and is submitted to your medical school to be applied towards your account with Heartland ECSI.