Rural physician residency assistance program
Wis. Stat. § 36.63
in effect(1) In this section:
(a) “Department” means the department of family medicine in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
(b) “Physician” means a physician, as defined in s. 448.01 (5), who specializes in family practice, general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics or psychiatry.
(c) “Rural area” means any of the following:
1. A city, town, or village in this state that has a population of less than 20,000 and that is at least 15 miles from any city, town, or village that has a population of at least 20,000.
2. An area in this state that is not an urbanized area, as defined by the federal bureau of the census.
(2)
(a) The department shall establish and support physician residency positions to which one of the following applies:
1. The residency position is in a hospital that is located in a rural area or in a clinic staffed by physicians who admit patients to a hospital located in a rural area.
2. The residency position includes a rural rotation, begun after June 30, 2010, which consists of at least 8 weeks of training experience in a hospital that is located in a rural area or in a clinic staffed by physicians who admit patients to a hospital located in a rural area.
(b) In establishing and supporting residency positions under par. (a), the department shall give preference to residency programs that actively recruit graduates of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
(3) Annually by December 1, the department shall submit a plan for increasing the number of physician residency programs that include a majority of training experience in a rural area to the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, the Wisconsin Hospital Association, and the Wisconsin Medical Society. The plan shall include a detailed proposed budget for expending the moneys appropriated to the board under s. 20.285 (1) (qe) and demonstrate that the moneys do not supplant existing funding. The department shall consider comments made by the organizations in formulating its final budget.
(4) Annually by December 1, the department shall submit to the joint committee on finance a report that includes all of the following:
(a) The number of physician residency positions that existed in the 2009-10 fiscal year, and in each fiscal year beginning after July 1, 2010, that included a majority of training experience in a rural area.
(b)
1. The number of such physician residency positions funded in whole or in part under this section in the previous fiscal year.
2. The eligibility criteria met by each such residency position and the hospital or clinic with which the position is affiliated.
3. The medical school attended by the physician filling each such residency position.
4. The year the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education certified the residency position.
5. The reason the residency position had not been funded.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/36.63Fetched: 10/7/2026