State officials and health industry executives will announce today Hawaii’s first loan repayment program for primary care providers who pledge to work in underserved communities.

The University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine will launch the program next month to attract and retain doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to work in rural areas statewide.

The program is partially funded by $300,000 in seed money from the Queen’s Medical Center and the Hawaii Medical Service Association, and a matching federal grant through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform law.

The average debt of a UH medical student upon graduation is $105,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. UH said 48 of 66 first-year students already owe a combined $2.2 million in debt.

"Students who have all this debt may not feel they can go into primary care even if that’s what they really want to do because they can’t repay their loans," said Kelley Withy, a UH medical school professor who is heading the program. "Students often feel they have to pick higher-paying specialties when actually the greatest need in Hawaii is for primary care providers."

There are about 40 federally recognized health care shortage areas in Hawaii.

The university’s latest workforce study showed the state was short by roughly 600 doctors, half of them in primary care, and by at least 150 nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Primary care doctors typically earn half or less of what specialists are paid. Nationally, AAMC data show the annual salary for anesthesiologists ranges from $331,000 to $423,507, compared with family medicine physicians who earn between $175,000 and $220,196.