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KBP - Frequently Asked Questions

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The Kansas Bridging Plan is a financial loan program developed to address the need for additional primary care, OB-GYN, and psychiatry physicians in the State of Kansas. The purpose of the plan is to encourage primary care, OB-GYN, and psychiatry physicians to practice in rural Kansas communities upon completion of residency training. Rural Health Education and Services (RHES) at the University of Kansas Medical Center directs the plan and assists residents and communities.

Residents are encouraged to apply during their first year of residency.

Applications are taken from September 1 to December 31 each year and are awarded in the order they are received until all loans are committed.

The online form may be completed September 1 through December 31.

Resident physicians must complete a one-month rural rotation during their residency program.

KBP loan forgiveness consists of two separate loans: one from the State of Kansas, and the other from a rural health care organization selected by the resident physician. Through KBP the State will loan participants up to $10,000. The rural health care organization is encouraged to match that amount and to loan at least an additional $6,000. The combined total of all loans may be $26,000 or more.

The loan payments are usually disbursed in August or September for those who have been selected for KBP; however, these criteria must be met prior to receiving the first loan payment:

  1. Residents must have completed one year of post-graduate training in their primary care specialty.

  2. Residents must be eligible for an unrestricted Kansas Medical License.

  3. Residents must sign and submit a KBP Residency Loan Agreement to Rural Health Education and Services.

    Resident physicians applying and awarded receive the first loan payment of $5,000 during the second year of residency, and the second loan payment of $5,000 during the third year of residency. The total amount received from the State for KBP is $10,000. The community/rural health care organization is encouraged to match the State's loan amount and provide at least an additional $6,000 upon completion of residency training. Therefore, the total of both loans can be $26,000 or more.

Yes, resident physicians who join the Wichita or KC campus are considered in compliance with KBP.

Participants can select a rural practice site at any time up to two months prior to the completion of their residency training. (Residents must begin practicing no later than 90 days after completing their residency programs.) RHES offers the services of the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center to assist with the search, interview, and selection process opportunity.

Once a resident selects a rural health care organization, (located in any county in Kansas except Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte ) they will sign a separate agreement with the appropriate entity. The practice commitment agreement between the rural health care organization and resident physician is a private contract between them; the State is not a party to that agreement. Here is a Sample Practice Commitment Agreement between an organization and a resident physician.

Resident physicians engage in the full-time practice of medicine in the rural community for 36 continuous months, on faculty contracts for 72 continuous months. The KBP participant can begin practicing any time within 90 days after completion of residency training.

Because the duration of the KBP service obligation is 36 months (72 months for faculty), the loan principal is divided into 36 equal payments and is forgiven by that amount on a monthly basis. Interest, at the annual rate of 15%, is also forgiven on a monthly basis. It begins accruing on the principal balance on the date the loan money was received by the resident. Interest that accrues during residency training is forgiven all at once after the first month the physician practices in compliance with the Residency Loan Agreement. Thereafter, post-residency training the amount that is forgiven each month is equal to the monthly principal amount (1/36th of the total amount loaned) plus the interest that accrues monthly on the remaining principal balance.

A Cancellation of Debt form is sent in November to participants who have completed residency training certifying that they has been practicing medicine in compliance with the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement. Based on the information provided by the physician on the Cancellation of Debt form, RHES will complete and distribute a Federal Miscellaneous Income 1099 Form for the amount of loan principal and interest forgiven for the calendar year.

Resident physicians who are recipients of a Kansas Medical Student Loan (KMSL) or the Kansas Osteopathic Medical Service Scholarship (KOMS) may participate in KBP and satisfy the service obligations of each program concurrently. However, all of the requirements of KBP and KMSL/KOMS programs must be met. Remember, KBP physicians can practice in any county in Kansas except Douglas, Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte.

If the physician fails to satisfy the obligations/requirements of the loan agreement, the physician must repay the loan within 90 days of such failure. The amount to be repaid is equal to the money received, less credits earned, plus interest at the annual rate of 15% from the date such money was received.

Community Engagement

University of Kansas Medical Center
Rural Health Education & Services
1010 N. Kansas
Wichita, KS 67214
rhealth@kumc.edu
Phone: 316-293-2649