Dr. Clarence Sparks describes the UNT Health Fort Worth\u2019s rural Primary Care Pathway<\/a> as \u201cnearly invaluable\u201d for his career.<\/p>\n The university\u2019s program partners with local community colleges to create a direct path to medical school for would-be doctors in rural communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sparks, a postgraduate medical resident at Loma Linda University Health in California, was the program\u2019s first graduate in 2023. Given the difficulties around costs, travel for college education, and the difficulties cracking into medical schools, the pathway is a life-changer.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I could\u2019ve successfully navigated the medical school process without their help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n UNT Health, which started the initiative in 2015 alongside Midland College, is now expanding such efforts by adding a pathway for students from Weatherford College.\u00a0<\/p>\n UNT Health\u2019s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine is partnering with the Weatherford school to launch its first cohort in the fall, growing the health science center\u2019s support for Texas rural communities while addressing the shortage of primary care physicians.<\/p>\n Participating students will spend two years at Weatherford College before transferring to UNT Health for their final year of undergraduate studies. They then will start medical school at TCOM, which includes a clerkship during the latter years at a partnering hospital in the rural community, said Dr. Maria Crompton, director of rural medical education at UNT Health.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of students, it might be their first time going to college. They might not be coming from families with physicians in them,\u201d Crompton said. \u201cThe pathway helps along the way with structured support and built-in shadowing opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly 90% of Texas counties are primary care shortage areas that don\u2019t have enough physicians to provide sufficient care, according to the policy nonprofit Texas 2036<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n All primary care specialties, from family care to psychiatry, are projected to have shortages in the state until 2032, according to Texas Health and Human Services<\/a>.<\/p>\n That reflects a nationwide trend. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis estimates<\/a> a shortage of 70,610 primary care doctors by 2038.<\/p>\n The scarcity of primary care providers hits rural communities the most.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rough as far as getting seats filled,\u201d Sparks said of primary care. \u201cIt\u2019s not the most lucrative. It\u2019s definitely not the most glamorous. There\u2019s other options within medicine that tend to have equivocal hours and better pay.\u201d<\/p>\n Weatherford College is the first addition to the initiative since it started over a decade ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crompton said the intentional growth of the program is important for good partnerships. She noted TCOM won\u2019t add schools to the pathway without making sure the infrastructure in place can support students through the entire multiyear journey.<\/p>\n Training sites \u2014 partnering medical systems in various fields from family medicine to obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics to psychiatry \u2014 are needed for students\u2019 education.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need the communities to be on board with that promise,\u201d she said. \u201cHolding up that piece of the agreement to be able to support the students.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the goal for TCOM is not stopping at two schools, Crompton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to increase the rural health care workforce,\u201d she added. \u201cBeing able to see students come through and be supported and successful in the pathway, then graduate and return \u2014 that\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n