USA awarded $5.45 million to enhance Primary Care Pathway program

Allen Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., professor and chair of family medicine, talks with second-year medical students and Primary Care Pathway Scholars Mary Carlton, left, and Cara Nix, right.

With the goal to increase the number of primary care physicians in rural and medically underserved communities and ultimately improve the health of those populations, the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama received $5.45 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand and enhance its Primary Care Pathway (PCP) program.

This award supplements a grant the Whiddon College of Medicine received from HRSA in September 2019. The initial grant, plus all supplemental funding, now totals $19.8 million.

Launched in July 2020, the PCP program is an educational track that provides medical students with four years of specialized training in primary care. The Primary Care Pathway Scholars are selected based on an interest in primary care and a willingness to commit to the practice following residency training. The program enrolls up to 10 students per class, for a total of 40 PCP Scholars.

“We provide tuition assistance, clinical, research and educational experiences in federally qualified health centers with the ultimate goal to have them enter into a primary care discipline and practice in an underserved environment,” said Allen Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., professor and chair of family medicine and principal investigator of the project. 

Perkins said the supplemental funding will enhance the educational environment of the community health centers in which the students learn and work. The five community sites are Franklin Medical Mall in Mobile, Franklin Foley Family Health Center, Franklin Loxley Family Health Center, Semmes Family Health Center, and Accordia Health in Bayou La Batre.

“We are providing support for faculty at the College of Medicine as well as community-based faculty to provide these experiences,” Perkins said. In addition to clinical care, faculty instruct students on topics such as leadership, population health sciences, social determinants of health, and opioid and substance abuse screening.

The supplemental funds also will be used to provide space in the simulation lab for simulated patient encounters focusing on underserved and disadvantaged populations, which all medical students will be exposed to in the curriculum, Perkins said.

The Whiddon College of Medicine has a long track record of graduating physicians who practice in the state. In the previous five years, 25.8% of graduates practice primary care, 36.7% practice in Alabama, 7.3% practice in rural areas, and 31.7% practice in underserved areas.

Learn more about the Primary Care Pathway program at the Whiddon College of Medicine.