Alaska ranks last among states in graduate medical education slots, state recap says

Alaska ranks 50th of 50 states in graduate medical education slots, according to an Alaska Department of Health recap of its March 24 Strengthening Workforce session.

Dr. Anne Zink and Dr. Lisa Rabinowitz led the session. Participants named rural provider retention as their top workforce priority. The recap also lists housing and child care among the workforce challenges identified.

The session covered the Rural Health Transformation Program, a $50 billion federal initiative. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services awarded Alaska about $272.2 million for the first year.

Any training the program funds requires a service commitment, according to the recap. The money cannot pay for new construction, though it can support renovations.

The department's preliminary Year 1 awards, which included nearly $126 million for 105 projects announced Aug. 21, include several for medical residencies:

• About $4.6 million for Providence Health & Services-Washington to stabilize and enhance the Alaska Family Medicine Residency Program.

• $792,431 for Sunshine Community Health Center to develop a family medicine residency in the Mat-Su Borough.

• $487,022 for the University of Alaska Anchorage to establish an Alaska Graduate Medical Education Council.

• $296,017 for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium for an emergency medicine residency elective and a faculty exchange with the University of Washington.

• $279,270 for Seattle Children's Alaska Track Pediatric Residency.

All first-year funds must be spent by Sept. 30, 2027, according to the department.