Residents in Family Practice, General Internal Medicine, General Pediatrics, and Medicine/Pediatrics residency programs operated in the State of Kansas and approved by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts are eligible to apply for the Kansas Bridging Plan.
Usually, residents apply during their first year of residency; application can be made later, however, the total loan amount will be reduced. Application cannot be made during the final year of residency. For example, residents in a 3-year residency program can apply during residency program years one and two (PGY1 and PGY2). Residents in a 4-year residency program (Medicine/Pediatrics) can apply during residency program years one, two, or three (PGY1, PGY2, and PGY3). Applications are taken from July 1 to December 31 each year.
The application process is initiated by completing an Application Form. Forms are available on this web site, and in the offices of Rural Health Education and Services in Kansas City and Wichita. We will be glad to fax or mail a form to you if you are unable to access the form from this web site. Applications can be submitted online, faxed to (316) 293-2671, or mailed to Rural Health Education and Services, KUSM-Wichita, 1010 N. Kansas, Wichita, KS 67214-3199.
Applicants are enrolled in the Kansas Bridging Plan in the order they are received until all loans are committed.
Yes, residents must complete a one-month rural rotation during their residency program.
The loan payments are usually disbursed in August or September for those who have been selected for the Kansas Bridging Plan; however, these criteria must be met prior to receiving the first loan payment:
For residents in a 3-year residency program:
*If you submit an application during the application period of your first year of residency, and if you are selected and meet the criteria for receiving the loan, you can receive the first loan payment of $5,000 during the second year of residency, and the second loan payment of $5,000 during your third year of residency. The total amount you can receive from the State for the Kansas Bridging Plan is $10,000. The community/rural health care organization with which you sign a practice commitment agreement agrees to match the State's loan amount, and to loan an additional $6,000 upon completion of residency training. Therefore, the total of both loans can be up to $26,000.
*If you wait until your second year of residency to apply, then you will receive only one payment of $5,000, and it will be disbursed during your third year of residency. The total amount you can receive from the State in this instance is $5,000. The community/rural health care organization with which you sign a practice commitment agreement agrees to match the State's loan amount, and to loan an additional $6,000 upon completion of residency training. Therefore, the total of both loans can be up to $16,000.
For residents in a 4-year residency program (Medicine/Pediatrics):
*If you apply during the application period of your first or second years of residency, and if you are selected and meet the criteria for receiving the loan, you can receive loan payments of $5,000 during each of the subsequent 2 years of residency training. The total amount you can receive from the State for the Kansas Bridging Plan is $10,000. The community/rural health care organization with which you sign a practice commitment agreement agrees to match the State's loan amount, and to loan an additional $6,000 upon completion of residency training. Therefore, the total of both loans can be up to $26,000.
*If you apply during the third year of residency, you will receive only one payment of $5,000, and it will be disbursed during your fourth year of residency. The total amount you can receive from the State in this instance is $5,000. The community/rural health care organization with which you sign a practice commitment agreement agrees to match the State's loan amount, and to loan an additional $6,000 upon completion of residency training. Therefore, the total of both loans can be up to $16,000.
After being selected for the Kansas Bridging Plan and signing the Kansas Bridging Plan Residency Loan Agreement, residents can select a rural practice site at any time up to 6 months prior to the completion of their residency training. (Residents must begin practicing no later than 90 days after completing their residency programs.) However, many residents begin the process of searching for their future practice site as soon as they enroll in the Kansas Bridging Plan. The staff of Rural Health Education and Services can assist with the search process, and can even arrange interviews with the rural organizations. A community is defined as rural if it is located in any county in Kansas except Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte. Once a resident selects a rural community, he or she will sign a separate agreement with the appropriate entity. Click here to view a Sample Practice Commitment Agreement between community and resident. The practice commitment agreement between the community and resident is a private contract between those parties; the State is not a party to that agreement.
The Kansas Bridging Plan Residency Loan Agreement requires that the resident engage in the full-time practice of medicine in the rural community for 36 continuous months. The Kansas Bridging Plan participant can begin practicing any time within 90 days after completion of residency training.
Because the duration of the Kansas Bridging Plan service obligation is 36 months, the loan principal is divided into 36 equal allocations and is forgiven by that amount on a monthly basis as long as the physician practices medicine in compliance with the Kansas Bridging Plan Residency Loan Agreement. Interest on the loan is also forgiven on a monthly basis. Interest, at the annual rate of 15%, begins accruing on the principal balance on the date the money was received by the resident. Interest that accrues during residency training is forgiven all at once after the first month the physician practices in compliance with the Residency Loan Agreement. Thereafter, the amount forgiven each month is equal to the monthly principal amount (1/36 of the total amount loaned) plus the interest that accrues monthly on the remaining principal balance.
In November of each year, Rural Health Education and Services will send a Cancellation of Debt form to physicians who have a Kansas Bridging Plan Residency Loan Agreement and have completed residency training. On that form the physician certifies that he/she has been practicing medicine in compliance with the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement, and lists the dates of that compliance during that calendar year. Based on the information provided by the physician on the Cancellation of Debt form, Rural Health Education and Services will complete and distribute a Federal Miscellaneous Income Form 1099 for the amount of loan principal and interest forgiven for the calendar year.
Resident physicians who are recipients of a Kansas Medical Scholarship/Loan may participate in the Kansas Bridging Plan, and can satisfy the service obligations of each program concurrently. Remember, Kansas Bridging Plan physicians can practice in any county in Kansas except Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte.
If the physician fails to satisfy the obligation to engage in the full-time practice of medicine in accordance with the provisions of the loan agreement, the physician must repay the loan within 90 days of such failure. The amount to be repaid is the amount equal to the amount of the money received, less credits earned, plus interest at the annual rate of 15% from the date such money was received.
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