About Us

 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 $6,250 per/semester are available during the four years of medical school ($50,000 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, Anesthesiology 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 Donna Gallivan 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:

Donna Gallivan Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program 1701 N. Towanda Avenue P.O. Box 2901 Bloomington, IL 61702 Phone: (309) 557-2350

E-mail: rimsap@ilfb.org