Idaho will soon get its first medical school, and although the school wont be located in East Idaho, it is expected to have a direct effect on local residents.

The proposed Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM), which will be in the Boise area, plans to take its first class in 2018, according to its website. The first class will consist of 150 students, and ICOM officials expect to break ground in spring of this year.

They anticipate being at full capacity by the academic year 2021-2022 with 150 students per year, or a total enrollment of 600.

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It will be a private medical school supported through tuition instead of taxes. ICOM currently has 17 affiliate hospitals.

According to the website, Idaho ranks 49th in the country in terms of physicians per capita, partly due to the fact that Idaho is the most populous state without its own medical school. Idaho is one of just five states that lack their own medical schools.

A medical school in Idaho would mean a steady supply of physicians in the state and local opportunities for Idahoans to attend medical school.

According to the ICOM website, the decision to establish a school offering a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree was made because of a tremendous need for primary care in the five-states region. A DO and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree are similar both are held by complete physicians who help lead a health care team but with some differences: For instance, a DO is more likely to go into primary care. DOs also have a relatively greater degree of representation in rural settings.

The state has given ICOM a tax reimbursement incentive to be located in Idaho, and ICOM has pledged that all of these funds will go toward scholarships for Idahoans, with a preference for ISU graduates.

When it comes to admission, Idahoans will be given priority over applicants from other states. Although the tuition hasnt been set yet, the tuition will be less than the average of private osteopathic or allopathic medical schools in the U.S.

According to IdahoCOM.org, there are currently 171 Idahoans who have left the state to pursue an osteopathic medical degree.

While many communities across the United States struggle with primary care physician shortages, today, in Madison County, we dont feel that shortage as acutely, according to a statement from Madison Memorial Hospital CFO Troy Christensen. However, the population in Madison County is growing and aging. As our demographics continue to change, so too will our demand for primary care physicians. When we get to the point that current primary care providers have reached their maximum capacity, we will have need of additional well-prepared physicians to care for our communitys health care needs. We are pleased to have a resource for these future needs so close to Madison County.

Dr. Robert Hasty, the Founding Dean and Chief Academic Officer for ICOM, said there are three key indicators of where people practice after their training is complete: where the person graduated high school, where he or she graduated medical school and where he or she completed a residency program.

Hasty estimated that roughly half of ICOM graduates will practice in primary care, with a little over half of the graduates staying in Idaho to practice. He said they are encouraging a lot of people to settle in East Idaho and have spent time developing relationships with hospitals in the region.

Were going to make a huge difference here, he said.

He said the graduates from ICOM will help Idaho keep up with the retirement of physicians and with population growth.

The establishment of the school will also be good for the local community if students come from around Rexburg because it will help improve the quality of care for the area, Hasty said. Long-term impacts are expected to include drawing more physicians from other states to practice in the local area.

Hasty said this medical school will be something Idahoans can be proud of.

This is the most important thing Ive ever done, he said.

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Idaho's first medical school to break ground this spring - Rexburg Standard Journal