Published 10:35 am Monday, September 29, 2025
By Staff Reports
A total of 60 primary care physicians in Alabama are now practicing in rural areas as a result of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama’s Medical Scholarship Program.
This scholarship program started in 2016 in an effort to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare for Alabamians, specifically in rural areas. To help ease the financial burden after graduation, Blue Cross pays for the students’ last two years of medical school, with the condition that the recipients agree to practice for at least three years after graduation in an underserved area of Alabama.
“We are seeing the results that we were hoping for from our scholarship program,” said Tim Vines, President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. “We are grateful to all the graduates for their willingness to serve and provide quality healthcare to those living in underserved areas of Alabama. The impact we are seeing would also not be possible without the collaboration with our college and university partners.”
Thus far, 144 students have been awarded a Blue Cross Scholarship and 60 have graduated and are now practicing in underserved areas across Alabama. Almost half of all hospitals in Alabama are in rural areas with 51 total hospitals across the state. More than 40 percent of Alabama’s population resides in these rural areas.
Since 2011, seven rural hospitals in Alabama have closed for good and 19 are currently listed as being at “immediate risk” of shutting down within the next three years. The only hospital in Pike County, Troy Regional Medical Center, is not one of those hospitals in danger of closing but scholarship programs like the Blue Cross Program are necessary to ensure that rural hospitals all over the state are able to maintain quality physicians.
“The scholarship is a major blessing,” said Will Maitre, UAB medical student and scholarship recipient. “I’m so thankful for it because it allows me to serve and provide the best care that I possibly can without having a major financial burden.”
The Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine in Dothan, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine, University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, Jefferson State Community College, Calhoun Community College, West Alabama Community College and Coastal Alabama Community College are partnered with Blue Cross on the scholarship program.
