Family physicians are becoming fewer and fewer, and 27 Texas counties have no doctor at all.
Since she was 8 years old, Vershawnna Morris knew she
wanted to be a doctor.
"I think I might be interested in pediatrics, but not I'm really sure yet, and I really enjoyed family medicine because you get a wide variety of patients," Morris said.
A third year medical student, Vershawnna hopes that love can
overcome her fear of loans.
I currently have $80,000 plus in loans, so it's definitely an issue, and I think that's why there's a big push, as far as medical students go, to go into a specialty of some sort," Morris said.
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Doctor shortage
News 8's Karina Kling tells us what's behind the current doctor shortage.
 
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Dr. David Wright says that the low pay associated with family medicine is an issue that needs to be addressed.
"Of all the specialties a medical student can go into, the lowest paid is family medicine," Wright said.
Dr. Wright is a faculty member with the Austin Family Medicine Residency Program.
He said there have to be more incentives for family doctors.
114 of Texas' 254 counties are designated by the federal
government as primary care shortage areas.
With possible health care reform on the horizon, Wright said there needs to be more doctors to back it up.
"If you think people are upset now, wait 'til you see when you bring all these people into the health care system and you've told they have to purchase this insurance, and now, they want to use their insurance. There won't be any place to go, because there's no doctors to be able to see them," Wright said.
Morris hopes incentives happen soon, so she won't get deterred due to debt.
"You don't go into it for the money necessarily, but it would be nice to be able to pay off loans in a timely manner," she said.
State lawmakers hope new legislation helps encourage doctors
to practice in underserved areas.
A new law that passed this year improved the state's medical school loan repayment program.
Available money for each doctor was increased from $45,000 over five years to $160,000 over four years.
