A new privately funded scholarship at the John A. Burns School of Medicine will provide one medical student with full tuition for four years.

The Elizabeth and Richard Grossman Scholarship — named for the Kailua residents who donated the money for the program — will provide $120,000 in tuition funding for a Hawaii resident who intends to practice medicine in the state. The scholarship aims to improve medical care in the islands by encouraging a promising future physician to stay in Hawaii to study and work.

Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the University of Hawaii’s medical school, said most students graduate with about $75,000 in debt, so scholarships help students stay in Hawaii, rather than opt to go to the mainland and begin their careers in states with lower costs of living and higher pay rates.

The Grossmans became part-time Kailua residents three years ago. Elizabeth Grossman is a retired managing director with Soros Fund Management Co. in New York and serves on the board of the Contemporary Museum. Her husband, Dr. Richard Grossman, is a plastic surgeon and the founder of the Grossman Burn Centers, which has offices in California and Louisiana.