A new Federal law has infused billions of dollars in new funding into the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support increased VA hospital residency slots and provide substantial debt assistance to physicians. On Monday, October 13, 2014, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald presented a special session, titled “Federal Loan Forgiveness Program and Veterans Affairs Employment Opportunities,” to a standing-room-only crowd in Carpenter Auditorium at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. UVM President Tom Sullivan, J.D., and College of Medicine Dean Frederick C. Morin III, M.D., as well as several representatives from the White River Junction VA, were in attendance.

A press conference took place prior to the presentation in the Hoehl Gallery in the College’s Health Science Research Facility. (Link to a list of media placements on the College of Mediicne's News & Media page.)

This new law allows the VA to immediately begin hiring doctors and other health care professionals, and provides the Department with direct hire authority to give priority to filling positions in the five health provider occupations that the VA’s Office of Inspector General has identified as having the largest staffing shortages.

The law also encourages more medical professionals to consider working at VA. In Fiscal Year 2013, 40,420 physician residents and fellows in graduate medical education programs rotated to VA clinical facilities. The law requires VA to increase the number of graduate medical education residency slots by up to 1,500 over a five-year period, with an emphasis on those pursuing primary care, mental health and other specialties the Secretary deems appropriate.

Recruitment and retention at VA will be further enhanced by the increased in the maximum amount of money available to eligible VA health care professionals in their Education Debt Reduction Program. As a result, VA will now be able to provide $120,000 in debt assistance, double what it had been previously authorized to provide. The law allows VA to pay medical professionals student loan lenders directly rather than merely reimbursing the employee once a payment is made.

View the video of the presentation here, or read a University of Vermont article on Senator Sanders' and VA Secretary McDonald's visit here.

(Information in this article has been provided by the U.S. Veterans Administration.)