Table 2.

Practice Scope and Setting of Early Career Family Physicians, Overall and by Loan Repayment Program

Practice AttributeValue (P Value)
        Overall        PSLF        NHSC        IHS      Military        Other
iSOP score, meana  16.1  16.4 (<.001)  17.2 (<.001)  18.6 (<.001)  17.3 (<.001)  16.8 (<.001)
Rural area (RUCC ≥4), %  12.0  10.8 (.11)  23.3 (<.001)  43.8 (<.001)    8.2 (.009)  28.9 (<.001)
Primary care HPSA in 2020
  Whole county or partial, %  89.7  90.7 (.43)  96.6 (.03)100.0 (.41)  88.9 (.82)  91.0 (.32)
  Whole county only, %    4.5    3.7 (.42)  12.5 (<.002)    0 (.60)    4.9 (.83)    8.2 (<.001)
Medically underserved practice setting, %  19.5  24.2 (<.001)  82.2 (<.001)100.0 (<.001)    2.6 (<.001)  30.4 (<.001)
Annual income, mean, $208,646  203,995 (.02)191,344 (<.001)203,726 (.74)148,711 (<.001)223,757 (<.001)
  • HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area; IHS = Indian Health Service; iSOP = individual scope of practice; NHSC = National Health Service Corps; PSLF = Public Service Loan Forgiveness; RUCC = Rural-Urban Continuum Code.

  • 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 Reflects the number of clinical services provided; possible range is 0 to 30, with a higher score indicating a broader scope.