Reducing medical student debt: 12 practical tips for innovative service commitment awards

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. At Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), we are developing strategies to reduce the rising debt of our medical students. During a collaborative and iterative process that involved a surprisingly wide group of stakeholders, we developed an innovative service commitment award for medical students: the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program. Beginning in spring 2019, GCSOM selected 10 current medical students for the program, and an additional 10 medical students from the class of 2023 will receive the award beginning in fall 2019. With 20 students enrolled in the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program, student debt for these students will be decreased by approximately $3.9 million. The potential of this program to significantly reduce medical student debt while mitigating the physician shortage in the primary service areas of Geisinger is tremendous. As the loan debt of medical students continues to rise, medical schools around the country should strategically think about innovative ways to reduce this burden while remaining true to the mission of their institution.