Two new Indiana University School of Medicine residency programs have gained accreditation to start training students next year.
The programs, emergency and internal medicine, aim to address physician shortages in rural areas of the state. Recent data shows 71 of Indiana’s 92 counties are considered health professional shortage areas.
Katherine Hiller, associate dean and regional director of IU Bloomington’s School of Medicine, said students will be able to complete training in Bloomington, where the programs are based, as well as more rural areas like Paoli and Bedford.
A study by the Journal of Graduate Medical Education found that residents who spent 50 percent or more of their training in rural areas were at least five times more likely than those without rural training to practice in a rural setting.
“We have students who can do emergency medicine or internal medicine right here in Bloomington, where they've been for the past four years, and not have to go to a different residency program,” she said. “We know there's data that shows that makes them much more likely to stay in Bloomington long term for their careers.”
John Sparzo, vice president and CEO of IU Health’s south region, said with a growing older population and natural turnover of physicians, there is a bigger need for doctors.
“We're hoping it will increase our physician supply in the area,” he said. “If you look at our primary care contingent, I think we have about 56 primary care providers in our region, our south region, now. So if you just think about natural turnover of 10 percent per year, we're looking just to replace five or six doctors per year.”
Sparzo said he hopes residents will also help contribute to clinical research and encourage more students to complete their residency in Bloomington.
Both programs run three years and begin in July 2026. The emergency medicine program will accept six students per class and will later have 18 students total. Internal medicine will accept eight students per class and will eventually train 24 students total at a time.
In the next year, the IU School of Medicine will begin reviewing applications and offering about 150 interviews for each program.
