Table 1.

Demographics of Early Career Family Physicians, Overall and by Loan Repayment Program

DemographicValue (P Value)
Overall (N = 10,677)PSLF (n = 1,653)NHSC (n = 504)IHS (n = 32)Military (n = 525)Other (n = 2,360)
Age, mean, y      35.8      35.2 (<.001)      35.8 (.88)      36.4 (.40)      36.0 (.37)      35.3 (<.001)
Gender, %
  Female      56.3      57.4 (.34)      62.7 (.003)      78.2 (.01)      35.1 (<.001)      55.3 (.30)
  Male      43.7      42.7      37.3      21.9      65.0      44.7
Medical degree, %
  MD      81.8      71.0 (<.001)      80.8 (.55)      96.9 (.03)      61.3 (<.001)      82.2 (.49)
  DO      18.2      29.0      19.3        3.1      38.7      17.8
International medical graduate, %
  Yes      32.8      18.1 (<.001)      12.3 (<.001)           0 (<.002)        4.4 (<.001)      29.6 (<.001)
  No      67.2      81.9      87.7        100.0      95.6      40.5
Race, %a
  Asian      17.1        9.3 (<.001)        7.7 (<.001)        3.1 (.04)        6.9 (<.001)      12.8 (<.001)
  Black or African American        5.6        5.6 (.93)        9.5 (<.002)        0 (.17)        4.8 (.40)        5.0 (.20)
  White      51.9      70.3 (<.001)      57.5 (.009)      18.8 (<.002)      68.6 (<.001)      66.7 (<.002)
  Other        2.3        1.6 (.051)        2.8 (.46)      53.1 (<.001)        1.5 (.23)        1.5 (.005)
Ethnicity, %a
  Hispanic        8.4        5.9 (<.002)        9.7 (.33)        4.2 (.46)        8.2 (.86)        6.5 (<.002)
  Non-Hispanic      91.6      94.1      90.3      95.8      91.8      93.5
  • DO = doctor of osteopathy; IHS = Indian Health Service; MD = doctor of medicine; NHSC = National Health Service Corps; PSLF = Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

  • Notes: Data are from the American Board of Family Medicine National Graduate Survey, 2016-2020. A total of 5,603 family physicians reported using no loan repayment program. P values are for comparison of the program group vs the overall sample.

  • a Available for the 2017-2020 cohorts only.