Larner Associate Dean for Primary Care Anne Morris, M.D., associate professor of family medicine, says there are not enough physicians going into primary care, in part, because of high medical education debt and the already high cost of living. “Their families, having lack of opportunities for employment, education, and housing, all makes it incredibly difficult to recruit young families to rural settings.”
2026 Larner medical graduates Julia Bernier and Tucker Angier are both born and raised Vermonters, Bernier from St. Albans and Angier from Stowe. Both noticed the shortage of primary care in their towns growing up.
“People don’t necessarily always want to go to Burlington or the big city to get all their health care, so being able to have people in rural settings provide high-quality health care, primary care, and again bridging that gap between subspecialty care, is extremely important,” Dr. Angier said.
The loan forgiveness incentive program is a win-win opportunity that benefits both doctors and patients.
“It’s eliminated some of the barriers of worrying about so much financial weight,” says Dr. Bernier.
“I think it takes a village to take care of a village, and that’s really the environment that I want to be working in and living in,” Angier added.
Bernier will do a residency at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and will also help at White River Junction VA Medical Center. Angier will stay closer to home as a resident at the UVM Medical Center. He’ll also work at a primary care clinic in Milton.