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Home > Specialized Programs in Maine

Updated 05/05/05

SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS IN MAINE

 

The following specialized programs are not offered by Maine higher education institutions.  For that reason accommodations have been made for most programs making it possible for some Maine students to qualify for and participate in these programs. 

Medical Education Program

The Finance Authority of Maine’s Medical Education Programs are designed to help students access and pay for medical education. Maine students may receive help gaining admission to medical schools and veterinary schools participating in the Maine Access to Medical Education Program. Loans are also available to Maine students pursuing a degree in dentistry, optometry and veterinary science.

Access to Medical Education Program

The Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) has entered into contracts with three medical schools (Dartmouth, Vermont & UNECOM) to provide PREFERRED ACCESS seats at each school for a total of twenty incoming, certified Maine residents each year. Essentially this program removes you from the national pool of applicants and allows you to compete for medical school acceptance in a pool consisting of Maine residents. The probability of being invited to interview at any of the schools participating in the Access Program is greatly increased if you apply under the auspices of the Maine Access Program.

FAME pays a fee of $5,000 per student, per year to provide access to students who are likely to practice primary care in underserved areas of Maine. The $5,000 fee is retained by the medical school to cover the costs of the program and to assure that Maine applicants will receive preferred access. It does not reduce your tuition or provide a financial benefit directly to you. Matriculating Maine students in the Access Program have priority for need-based loans ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 annually.

Students matriculating under the Access Program are required to sign a Student Participation Agreement that obligates them to complete at least two primary care clinical rotations in Maine. One rotation must be at a Maine Family Practice Residency Program during the third year; the other at an ambulatory care site in rural Maine during the student's fourth year. Applicants to the Access Program should be aware that the State of Maine will make every effort to encourage students to select primary care specialties and to practice in Maine.

Maine's Advisory Committee on Medical Education reviews all applications filed by Maine residents for the Access Program and makes recommendations to the medical schools regarding those applicants who seem most likely to achieve the program goals. However, the individual medical schools make the final decision regarding the admission of any applicant.

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Ach424sec0.html

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Dental Education Loan Program

The Maine Dental Education Loan Repayment Program is intended to increase access to dental care to underserved populations in Maine by providing repayment of dental education loans for dental services providers. The loan repayment recipient must provide dental services regardless of a patient's ability to pay. Loan repayment is available at the rate of $20,000 per year of services for up to 4 years for outstanding education loan debt.

The Maine Dental Education Loan Program is also intended to increase access to dental care to underserved populations in Maine by providing need-based dental education loans to Maine residents attending dental school. Dental students may be eligible for forgivable loans of up to $20,000 per year for up to 4 years. Loan forgiveness is available at the rate of 25% per year of service. The loan recipient must provide dental services regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

A Dental Education Loan or Loan Repayment recipient may receive up to $80,000 in the aggregate of either loans or loan repayment through this program.

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/20-A/title20-Ach5sec0.html

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Maine Access to Veterinary Education Program

The Finance Authority of Maine has entered into a contract with Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine to provide a preferred Access seat for a Maine resident each year. FAME pays a capitation fee of $12,000 to provide access to a student who expresses a serious interest in practicing large animal veterinary care in an area of the State determined to be underserved. The $12,000 capitation fee is used to reduce tuition and is treated as a loan to the student that is eligible for forgiveness if the student returns and practices large animal veterinary medicine in a designated underserved area in Maine. Underserved areas are determined by the Commissioner of Agriculture.

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 Pharmaceutical Program

A Maine student can use this program to receive in-state tuition from the participating college.  For more information on the program see:

For more information on any of these programs contact Financial Authority of Maine or click this link: FAME.

In addition, Southern Maine Community College in South Portland offers a pharmacy technician program, the only program of its kind in Maine. The two-year associate degree in science will prepare pharmacy technicians for employment in either an institutional or retail pharmacy setting. The pharmacy technician program will prepare the student for the national certification exam and offer a means to explore different career alternatives and interests within the practice of pharmacy. For more information go to http://www.smccme.edu/programs/pharmacy.htm