As Class of 2026 medical students settle into their residency programs, most don’t know where their careers will take them after residency training. Several of them have promised to practice medicine in Vermont communities in exchange for having all or some of their medical school tuition reimbursed. Medical student incentive / loan forgiveness scholarships will allow these future doctors to live and work in their beloved Green Mountain State and bring much-needed health care to areas that need it most.

More than two-thirds of Vermonters live in small towns with low populations and pastoral landscapes, removed from the clustered services found in the greater Burlington area. Only 9 percent of physicians practice medicine in rural areas, however, due to financial hurdles and related barriers. Community hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes routinely face higher physician vacancy rates, lower retention rates, and longer recruitment cycles. The Vermont Medical Society says the state is currently short 115 primary care doctors compared to national benchmarks, and that this shortage will worsen as providers age, retire, and aren’t replaced.

One strategy for attracting new physicians to rural regions is to offer to reimburse medical school tuition in exchange for a promise to practice medicine in those areas. Larner medical students can apply for several different loan forgiveness scholarships supported by philanthropic funds and the Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program, which aims to create a robust and stable health care workforce throughout the state. The scholarship amounts vary, with some covering one or more years of medical school tuition.

“The scholarships and loan forgiveness options we offer provide incentives for medical students in any specialty to choose Vermont, and for those entering primary care to choose rural Vermont locations,” says Jennifer Gaudreau, physician placement professional for AHEC. Gaudreau maintains a list of physician openings in Vermont in every specialty and works with medical students and residents to identify Vermont jobs and loan repayment opportunities. “AHEC is committed to ensuring that an adequate number of physicians is geographically distributed around the state.”

Meet Larner’s 2026 medical loan forgiveness / incentive scholarship recipients—Vermont’s newest future doctors—and discover what calls them to live and work in the Green Mountain State.

Tucker Angier: A “Swiss Army Knife of Medicine”

A graduate of Stowe High School and Middlebury College, Tucker Angier’s Vermont roots run deep. An avid downhill skier, he worked as a ski patroller at Middlebury Snow Bowl after college and lived briefly in Idaho and Chicago before returning to Vermont for medical school. Angier’s family lives in Stowe and his mother is a practicing psychiatrist in Morrisville, Vermont. 

As a Vermonter, Angier understands small town residents’ need for longitudinal, place-based care. “Our health care landscape is condensed in Burlington, yet most of the state’s population lives rurally. This has created a need for broad-scope primary care services across our state,” he says. “Vermont needs primary care physicians who can work up complex conditions, perform routine office procedures, and integrate in their communities.”

During medical school, Angier joined the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Scholars, a nationally recognized program that provides students in health care majors with opportunities to work on projects and engage with medical providers, patients, and community leaders in rural communities. Through AHEC he became a “Med Mentor,” mentoring pre-health students exploring careers in the medical field.

Angier’s ambition is clear: “My goal is to become a rural family medicine physician, a ‘Swiss-army knife,’ a one-stop-shop for my community,” Angier says. “The AHEC scholarship generously allows for this to be possible.”

Angier received the AHEC Scholars Medical Student Incentive / Loan Forgiveness scholarship, which reimburses $40,000 of medical school tuition in exchange for the promise to practice medicine in Vermont outside of Chittenden County after residency. He won’t have to go far: Angier matched to the Family Medicine Residency at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Angier’s wife, Hannah Gelderman, will graduate from that same Family Medicine Residency this June and will join Gifford Health in Randolph, Vermont. 

Julia Bernier: Connecting Personally with Patients

A lifelong Vermonter born and raised in Saint Albans, Julia Bernier knows a thing or two about Vermont’s beautiful outdoor spaces and agrarian activities. She enjoys trail running and hiking, paddleboarding and kayaking, picking apples, eating cider donuts, and cross-country skiing. She also understands the struggles Vermonters face with finding transportation to medical appointments or feeling intimidated by “big city” doctors. 

“Calling Burlington a big city may sound comical, but I understand that feeling, having grown up in rural Vermont,” says Bernier, who graduated from UVM in 2021. “Because I share similar experiences, knowledge, and an understanding of being a Vermonter, I can connect with patients on a deeper level, and that is why I want to practice here in the future.”

Bernier felt a “unique ability to connect personally with patients” she met during her medical school clinical experiences, “because I understood some of the struggles of being a Vermonter,” she says. “For example, patients from Saint Albans or the Northeast Kingdom would confide that they struggle to find transportation to appointments. I was able to offer resources to patients that other providers were sometimes surprised to hear existed.”

Bernier received the David and Elenor Ignat Scholars Incentive / Loan Forgiveness scholarship, which reimburses $40,000 of medical school tuition in exchange for practicing medicine in Vermont after completing residency and fellowship training. Established by David and Eleanor Ignat, the incentive aims to strengthen the physician workforce pipeline into Vermont in any medical specialty.

Receiving this scholarship “allowed me to take out minimal loans for my last year of medical school, support myself, and gave me the flexibility to pursue any medical specialty without having to weigh finances into the mix,” Bernier says. “I am so grateful to have the ability to practice care in Vermont in the future.”

Bernier plans to pursue internal medicine with a focus on women’s health, obesity, and addiction medicine—all important needs in Vermont. She matched to the Internal Medicine Residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

Molly Hurd: Connection and Quality of Life 

When asked what she loves about Vermont, Molly Hurd doesn’t hesitate: “The strong sense of community. People genuinely care about one another, and that shows up in everyday interactions,” she says. “I also value the proximity to outdoor activities … the local food culture and emphasis on sustainability. I love that I can leave the clinic and go for a hike, hit the slopes, or try a new restaurant or brewery with friends.”

Growing up in a close-knit community in rural Hardwick, Massachusetts, shaped Hurd’s appreciation for community-based living and health care. She came to Vermont for college in 2015 and now considers Vermont her home. 

A UVM triple alum, she completed a B.A. in neuroscience with a certificate in integrative health in 2019 and an M.S. in pharmacology in 2020 before applying to medical school. At Larner, Hurd has served as leader for the Family Medicine Student Interest Group and the Lifestyle Medicine Student Interest Group. She helped develop and co-led a new elective course for first-year students about nutritional interventions for chronic disease, which is now part of the Larner curriculum. 

“I want to practice family medicine because of the unique and diverse scope of practice combined with strong community ties, which I have observed in the time I have spent with family docs here,” Hurd says. “Practicing medicine in Vermont feels meaningful because it allows me to care for patients in a place that prioritizes connection, access, and quality of life.”

Hurd received the AHEC Scholars Medical Student Incentive / Loan Forgiveness scholarship. She matched into Family Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University.

Anna Landis: Rooted in Community

“My decision to practice medicine in Vermont is rooted in the sense of community I have found here,” says Anna Landis, who was born in South Korea and raised in Stowe, Vermont, since she was two years old. Even while living as an adult in Boston, Philadelphia, and Providence, she felt that Vermont is her forever home.

“Growing up in Stowe, community was paramount. We had frequent neighborhood cookouts, holidays, friendly competitions. People care about the folks across the street or down the hall. This sense of connection was something I missed when I was in larger cities, and something I haven’t been able to replicate elsewhere,” says Landis, who intends to pursue anesthesiology. “As I see it, the world of medicine reflects the community it serves. I want to stay here to be part of that.”

Landis received the Freeman Foundation Legacy Medical Scholarship, which provides $10,000 in exchange for the promise to practice medicine in Vermont, in any specialty. Landis matched to the Anesthesiology Residency at the UVM Medical Center.

Erzsi Nagy: At Home in Vermont

A native of central Maine, Erzsi Nagy moved to Vermont in 2013 to attend Middlebury College. Before applying to medical school, Nagy working at a small psychiatric-drug research company in Woodstock, Vermont, and lived in Norwich in an apartment on the Connecticut River. Nagy formed a band with some Dartmouth graduate students, playing shows on front porches and at White River Junction’s first-ever pride parade. An avid runner, Nagy trekked from Camel’s Hump to Mount Mansfield in one day, participated in the Vermont 100 on 100 relay, and ran the Vermont 50, a 50-mile race at Mount Ascutney.

During medical school, Nagy volunteered as a doula at the UVM Medical Center and worked with patients from many different backgrounds and Vermont towns at medical practices in Bristol, South Royalton, Rutland, and Lyndon. Nagy plans to pursue psychiatry, hoping to settle in Vermont’s Upper Valley region.

“Psychiatry is where I found what I was looking for in medicine—exploring what it is to be human. As a psychiatrist, I hope to guide my patients toward a better understanding of themselves,” Nagy says.

Nagy received the David and Elenor Ignat Scholars Incentive / Loan Forgiveness scholarship and will join the Adult Psychiatry Residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

“Fostering community is one of my core values, and I’ve been able to cultivate a community in this state for nearly a decade. Vermont is now my home, and I feel grateful for the privilege to return here to practice medicine.”

“The world of medicine reflects the community it serves. I want to stay here to be part of that.” — Anna Landis ’26

Read more about medical education incentive scholarships 

This story originally appeared in the Spring 2026 Issue of Vermont Medicine and has since been updated with new information.