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Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program
This program, a partnership started in 1948 between the Illinois State
Medical Society (ISMS) and the IFB, and has helped many qualified
applicants to hurdle financial need or borderline academic barriers to a
medical education. This program has assisted over 800 students with a
recommendation for acceptance and/or loan monies.
Recommendation Assistance
The RIMSAP Board can recommend candidates annually for acceptance to the
University of Illinois College of Medicine. Your grade point average and
your Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores weigh heavily on your
being selected for a personal interview before the Board and for a
possible recommendation. A recommendation from this Board gives a
positive weight to your application. A minimum grade point average of
3.5 on a 5.0 basis is required by the Rural Illinois Medical Student
Assistance Program to be eligible for consideration.
Loan Assistance
Students seeking financial aid will be contacted after they have been
accepted as University of Illinois Medical School students. The U of I
Office of Student Financial Aid, College of Medicine, will provide a
financial aid request form to be completed and returned for committee
consideration. This information will remain confidential and will offer
a basis for selection of students to receive loan assistance.
Loans of $3,750 per semester are available during the four years of
medical school ($30,000 maximum loan from this program). Loans are
granted at a 4% interest rate. The borrower must insure themselves for
the total amount of their intended loan and must pay the premiums on the
policy. The repayment schedule of the principal amount begins three
years following termination of post graduate training.
General Information
Eligibility Requirements:
Freshmen student applicants are considered on a comparative and
competitive basis regardless of whether they seek a loan or a
recommendation or both.
Applicants must have the signatures of their county medical society
president or secretary and the county Farm Bureau president on their
application form. Minimum scholastic requirements of an applicant are
that only students who are in their fourth year of college or who will
have completed study for a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation to
medical school may apply. Applicants to the Rural Illinois Medical
Student Assistance Program MUST be Illinois residents. Please talk to
your pre-med advisor about this program.
Your Part of the Bargain
This is a program designed to provide doctors in rural communities in
Illinois. Students must be willing to specialize in Family Practice or
another primary health care field. The following approved residencies
are permitted: Family Practice, Internal Medicine, OB-GYN, Pediatrics,
Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, General Surgery, Orthopedic
Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry. In return for assistance
from the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program, you must
agree to practice medicine in an approved rural community in Illinois.
Minimum practice time is as follows:
Freshman student receiving a recommendation - five years. Freshman student already approved for admission requesting loan
assistance for four years - four years. Upper classman already in medical school - one year of practice
for each year that financial aid is taken (one year minimum). You may select a town of your choice provided the community has
demonstrated a physician need, and serves a rural populace, but your
choice is subject to approval by the program's Board. The purpose of
this program and your signed agreement is to provide physicians for
the rural areas in Illinois.
When and How to Apply
Freshman student applicants must submit their completed Rural Illinois
Medical Student Assistance Program applications to Mariah Dale-Anderson by
November 1 to be considered as a candidate for the medical school
enrollment the following August.
APPLICANTS MUST ALSO COMPLETE THE REQUIRED AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGE
ADMISSION SERVICE FORMS. AMCAS APPLICATIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY OCTOBER
1 IN ORDER TO BE ON RECORD WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF
MEDICINE BY NOVEMBER 1.
The Board of the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program
conducts an annual interview meeting for freshman students the first
week of January. Students
qualifying for the interview are notified and invited in mid-November.
For an application and additional information go to
www.rimsap.com or
write to:
Mariah Dale-Anderson, Manager
Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program
1701 N. Towanda Avenue
P.O. Box 2901
Bloomington, IL 61702
Phone: (309) 557-2350
E-mail: mdale-anderson@ilfb.org
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