HRSA is awarding over $5 million to 26 grantees to train primary care medical and dental residents.
Ahead of Match Day on March 20, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced it has awarded over $5 million to 26 teaching health centers that operate primary care medical and dental residency programs at rural and community health centers through the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program. Match Day marks the milestone when medical students find out where they will complete their residency training. Through this investment, HRSA will support nearly 100 residents this year, strengthening the health workforce and expanding access to care across the country.
While most residency programs are based in hospitals, the THCGME program supports training in community-based outpatient settings, where most people receive their health care. Research shows that clinicians are more likely to practice in underserved and rural communities when they train in those settings.
“This funding allows health centers and other safety net providers to prepare a primary care workforce that understands and meets the needs of the communities they serve,” said HRSA Administrator Tom Engels. “With Match Day approaching, these funds will support the next generation of clinicians who will care for patients in rural and underserved communities.”
The THCGME program increases the number of physician trainees at a time when more primary care clinicians are urgently needed. HRSA’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a shortage of more than 70,600 primary care physicians, including family medicine, general internal medicine, and geriatrics, by 2038. These shortages will be particularly acute in rural areas.
During the last academic year, the THCGME program supported more than 1,250 residents across 88 programs in primary care specialties including family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, geriatrics, and general dentistry. Since its inception, the program has graduated more than 3,000 new primary care physicians and dentists into the workforce. Collectively, these residents have provided over 12 million hours of patient care in medically underserved and rural communities.
See a list of the FY 2026 Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education award recipients.
Learn more about the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program.