In 1958, a group of Minnesota physicians recognized the need to create a sister organization to the Minnesota Medical Association. That organization, known as the Minnesota Physicians Foundation, would carry out educational and charitable activities that could be funded by charitable contributions from the physician members of the MMA and others who shared its mission to improve the practice of medicine in Minnesota. Through the years, the foundation supported a variety of efforts mostly related to medicine and community health. By far, the greatest part of the foundation’s effort and resources went to providing low-cost loans to medical students. More than 2300 medical students have used these loans to help finance their medical education.
In the 1960s, the foundation's loans would cover most, if not all, of a year's medical school tuition. By 2005, however, the foundation's loans, were becoming dwarfed by the ballooning cost of medical school. Faced with that change and others, the foundation's leadership undertook a thorough review of the foundation, its programs and its potential. As a result, a new strategic plan was developed and adopted in 2006.
The new strategic plan calls for action in two specific program areas: continuing to provide financial support for medical students and improving access to medicine in underserved communities. Under the plan, support for medical students turned from loans to scholarships and a major effort was undertaken to improve access to high-quality health care in underserved communities. The plan also called for the creation of a development office to build an ongoing program of financial support to fund program priorities and advance the mission and goals of the foundation.
Today, the MMA Foundation is moving forward on all three fronts. A number of medical students are receiving partial 4-year scholarships. A physician is working in rural Minnesota, using an MMA Foundation-funded loan forgiveness program to pay down educational debt. As part of the national economic stimulus program, we have committed to match funding for another such program to encourage a physician to practice in an underserved Minnesota community. Finally, we have committed to building organizational resources to seek the funding and develop the partnerships that will create and support the ongoing programs of the MMA Foundation.
We hope you, too, will
become part of the network of caring individuals who support the MMA Foundation. Your gift will make a real difference in the life of a medical student or for someone seeking medical care in an underserved community in Minnesota.