(IRN) A program designed to provide better access to rural healthcare is helping both rural communities and new doctors.

Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program Conference and Program Manager Donna Gallivan says the RIMSAP program helps combat the expected decline of medical professionals by the year 2034.

The RIMSAP program was established in 1948 but has seen a new present-day wave as it attracts doctors to Illinois country, helps students pay for a medical degree and provides easier access to medical care for patients.

Sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois State Medical Society, the RIMSAP program assists students with recommendations and loan assistance.

Application requirements include being an Illinois resident in their fourth year of an undergraduate program who wants to specialize in a primary health care field for medical school.

Residencies allowed include family practice, internal medicine, OB-GYN, pediatrics, combined internal medicine and pediatrics, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesiology and psychiatry.