Opportunity Overview
Open West Virginia healthcare-workforce opportunity. The Choose West Virginia Practice Program, administered through College for West Virginia / the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, is a tuition-waiver program designed specifically to retain physicians in West Virginia. The program incentivizes nonresident medical students attending a West Virginia medical school to remain in the state to practice after training. This direct physician-workforce objective satisfies Atlas’s healthcare publication-scope gate.
Funding
Two out-of-state medical students from each West Virginia medical school may receive awards each academic year. The award pays the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition at the eligible institution, described by the controlling program page as approximately $30,000. The actual value depends on the applicable tuition differential and is not a fixed cash grant paid to the student.
Application Window and Deadline
For new applicants, the application opens annually on July 15 and closes November 15. The controlling application page does not publish an exact closing clock time or time zone, so Atlas does not infer either. Renewal applications open annually May 15 and close June 15.
Eligibility
Applicants must be accepted or enrolled at Marshall University, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, or West Virginia University in a program leading to a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathy degree; meet institutional requirements for classification as an out-of-state student; and not be in default on a previous student loan. Students from any current medical-school class year may apply, with preference given to eligible first-year medical students.
Subject to continued state funding, recipients may renew in remaining medical-school years if they progress to the next academic year and maintain good academic and professional standing. Current recipients must reapply annually, for up to four total awards.
Service Obligation
Recipients must complete entrance counseling and sign a promissory note. They must practice at an eligible West Virginia site for one year for each year an award is received, up to four years. The service obligation begins within six months after residency or fellowship training is completed. Participants are responsible for securing their own practice site.
Qualifying shortage or primary-care specialties that may be practiced at any site anywhere in West Virginia include addiction medicine, emergency medicine, family practice, general internal medicine, general surgery, geriatrics, internal medicine/pediatrics, neurology, OB/GYN, pediatrics, preventive medicine, and psychiatry, including addiction, child and adolescent, and geriatric psychiatry. Other specialties may qualify when practiced at specified underserved sites such as qualifying Health Professional Shortage Area locations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, correctional facilities, state mental-health hospitals, free clinics, or certain low-income-serving sites.
Participants who do not complete the service obligation are responsible for repaying the award amount received plus 5% interest accruing from the date training is completed or terminated.
Match, Costs, Vendor Rules, and Submission
No applicant match or cost share is stated. This is a tuition-waiver program rather than a project-reimbursement grant, so the funded cost is the eligible in-state/out-of-state tuition differential. Ordinary vendor procurement, equipment purchases, subcontracting, indirect costs, and project-budget rules are not applicable to the award. New applicants submit through the Choose WV online application linked from the controlling CFWV page.
Forms and Contacts
Program administration includes a promissory note and entrance counseling for recipients, a Residency Deferment Form during residency or training, and an Employment Verification Form during the service period. Program questions may be directed to choosewv@wvhepc.edu or 304-558-4618; toll-free: 877-987-7664.
N9+ and Dr. Miltie Fit
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. This program funds an individual medical student’s tuition differential and does not fund telehealth devices, remote-exam platforms, clinical equipment, or vendor purchases. The Nonagon N9+ remote physical examination platform should not be forced into this opportunity.
QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100. The program does not purchase healthcare consulting or implementation services. Dr. Miltie direct-applicant fit: 0/100 because eligible applicants are individual nonresident medical students at the three eligible West Virginia medical schools.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 90/100. The opportunity is current, authoritative, statewide in its service objective, and directly tied to physician recruitment and retention. Although product and vendor fits are zero, the record passes the controlling Atlas publication gate because the funded scope itself is a documented healthcare-workforce intervention.
No organization-level applicant score is assigned because the applicant is an individual medical student rather than a healthcare organization. Marshall University, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, and West Virginia University are eligible host institutions, not substitute applicants.
Next Actions
Eligible nonresident medical students should review the current eligibility and service-obligation pages, complete the online application before November 15, and understand the promissory-note, residency-deferment, employment-verification, and repayment requirements before accepting an award.