The student loan payments are made directly to the resident so that you have the ability to apply it to your loans in the way that you prefer. Some people have more than one loan (they didn’t consolidate or only partially consolidated) with different interest rates, and it would be more advantageous to them to apply the money in different ways. We feel this gives you the biggest benefit of loan repayment. The money may be applied to your loan(s) in a lump sum or you may use the award to make monthly payments.

Yes. For example, if you are interested in an Internal Medicine residency program at one institution, you should apply to both their general Internal Medicine residency program as well as their MIDOCs Internal Medicine residency program. When it is time to rank programs in NRMP, you can then can rank both programs, if you wish to.

Based on the type of loan, we will work with you to determine the appropriate satisfactory documentation.

Yes, but you need to complete your service obligation for MIDOCs directly after residency. Your service could be concurrent with another program's so long as all the requirements of MIDOCs obligation are met and the other program allows for concurrent service. In meeting those requirements, if you also meet the requirements of another program's service obligation, MIDOCs will allow concurrent service. If both requirements cannot be met concurrently, then the MIDOCs obligation must be met before completing any other service obligation.

Qualifying loans include, but may not be limited to, loans incurred through US government, commercial and/or school entities for the purpose of undergraduate and graduate education. See a complete description of qualifying and non-qualifying loans at michigandocs.org/loan-repayment.

State law prohibits any sub-specialty training for at least 2 years post-residency. There is an exception for child and adolescent psychiatry fellowships but, they must be integrated with a psychiatry residency training program in a MIDOCs affiliated institution.

All specifics regarding salary amounts will be a negotiation between you and the potential employer. MIDOCs does not get involved in any conversations regarding employment compensation.

We will work with individuals and their employer to accommodate a leave of absence on a case-by-case basis. This is not usually a problem. You would simply suspend your service obligation while on leave, and pick it back up when you return to work.

Of Michigan's 83 counties, 75 have at least partial designation as a primary health professional shortage area (HPSA). To determine if a practice site is in an underserved area, use the tools here https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area. Using the HPSA Find tool, you can filter by specialty. MIDOCs uses the HRSA designations to define "underserved" areas. Specific practice sites within those areas will need to be approved (or "qualified") by MIDOCs prior to selecting a location for your service commitment. Read more about Practice Site requirements here https://www.michigandocs.org/service-obligation.

You may apply the loan repayment award to your loan(s) in a lump sum or use it to make monthly payments.

The award is disbursed in 3 installments: the first upon receipt of a copy of the Resident’s signed employment contract for their 2-year service in an underserved area of Michigan the second at the start of the first year of the two-year practice requirement the third and final upon verified completion of the first-year practice requirement NOTE: Documentation of loans will be required. The loan repayment award cannot be more than the total outstanding balance of your qualifying loans. Qualifying educational loans must have documentation to establish that they were contemporaneous with the education received. Loan documentation may be verified by contacting lenders/holders and possibly reviewing the applicant’s credit report. You must submit loan documentation to MIDOCs prior to, or within 18 months of, completing residency.

MIDOCs loan repayment funds are exempt from gross income, employment, state, and local taxes. Generally, loan reimbursement awards received under a State loan repayment or loan forgiveness program that is intended to provide for the increased availability of health care services in underserved or health professional shortage areas are excluded from wages for FICA, FUTA, and federal income tax withholding purposes. For tax purposes, you may want to keep receipts showing that the money was applied to your loans; you may want to consult your tax adviser on this.

MIDOCs residents are selected through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) process which opens each fall. Medical students are invited to interview in November and December, and ranking takes place in January. MIDOCs positions are filled through the Main Residency Match which takes place in March and Resident Contracts are signed by July. All MIDOCs residency programs meet ACGME requirements. Additionally, a candidate must meet criteria of the individual institution and residency program qualifications to be reviewed for possible selection for interview for a MIDOCS residency program position. You may review each individual institution's program here michigandocs.org/residencies.