Rural Georgia Senior Scholarship

Eligibility

• Applicants must be currently enrolled as an MD student at the School of Medicine, on track to graduate with the class of 2025, participating in the March 2025 residency match, and plan to begin residency in July 2025
• Applicants must be seeking a residency in Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, General Pediatrics, OB-GYN, Psychiatry, or General Surgery
• Applicants must possess a strong desire to participate in a Georgia residency program.
  Scholars should apply to at least three Georgia residency programs and list Georgia residency programs at the top of their rank list. 
• Applicants must be committed to living and practicing primary care in a rural medically underserved Georgia county after residency
• Applicants must have significant financial need and outstanding student loan debt

Nathan Deal, Children’s Rural Pediatric, and ACT Scholars are not eligible to apply for this program.

Service Commitment

Upon completion of residency, the scholar must live and practice in a primary care core specialty full-time in an approved medically underserved rural Georgia county for five continuous years. Core specialties include family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, or general surgery. No credit will be granted for partial completion of the service obligation. The option of a one-year fellowship specifically to enhance primary care practice in a rural county will be acceptable with Mercer’s approval.

In the event the student does not meet the service commitment in its entirety, the entire scholarship amount received, plus $50,000 in liquidated damages, must be returned immediately to Mercer.