BOISE, Idaho — Pediatric Residency of Idaho (PRI) welcomed four new residency students into Full Circle Health's Boise-based clinic for the beginning of a three-year program to capstone the homestretch of an aspiring physician's training.
PRI will take four students annually, making for a rolling capacity of 12 total.
"This was about a four-year project to get to the point that we could actually welcome our first residents," PRI Program Director Dr. Perry Brown said. "It's unique enough that this is the first one that's ever existed in the state."
It's also the only pediatric residency program among several nearby states. Heading east from Seattle, the northern half of the country doesn't support a single pediatric residency program until reaching Minnesota, according to Brown.
"It is it's one of the reasons why Idaho ranks 50th in the US in terms of number of pediatricians per 100,000 children," Brown said. "This is how we start improving our access to pediatricians here in this state."
The shortage of Gem State physicians, of any discipline, is well documented through the Idaho Graduate Medical Education Committee's (GMEC) annual reports. Recent as 2022, the committee concluded Idaho ranks 45th in the nation for family care physicians per 100,000 people - a slight increase from 49th place five years previous.
GMEC is part of a larger 10-year plan to catch the number of Idaho physicians up to state demand. By 2027, the GME Strategic Plan aims to host 356 residency students and fellows in Idaho; the most recent count comes out to 237 - a 77% increase in the last five years.
The idea is to build up reputable residency programs in the state and recruit talented students to these programs. More than half of Idaho-based residency students continue to practice in the Gem State after completing their program, according to GME.
"They're going to get trained in places like Hailey, Twin Falls, Fruitland, etc.," Brown said. "By doing that, we anticipate that they're going to fall in love with some of these places, they're going to decide to remain in some of those places and practice."
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