The University of Louisville is working to address the doctor shortage in Kentucky.

The School of Medicine has received a $16 million federal grant to attract, train and financially support medical students who they hope will eventually practice in underserved communities.

More in tonight's look at medical news.

The purpose of this grant was to ultimately to increase the number of primary care physicians in Kentucky, but to do that, you have to train people to be primary care physicians.

So fortunately, here at the School of Medicine, we have a lot of programs already in place that focus on training our medical students and our pre-medical students to go into primary care fields.

So there is absolutely a lack of diversity of people and voices and all of that throughout medicine, throughout the country.

And Kentucky is no different than that.

We know that.

Well, first of all, underrepresented in medicine, students make great doctors.

That's the bottom line.

Second, patients often like it when they have a doctor that looks like them or that comes from a background similar or grew up in a similar kind of environment.

It makes the relationship easier and more meaningful.

So the more we can have a diversity in our physicians, the better care our diverse patient population will get.

Another exciting part of this is what we're going to be focusing on in West Louisville with.

This is our community.

This is where we are.

We want our students to have the opportunity to be a part of the growth in West Louisville, be a part of that growth in our medical system in West Louisville because it's there and just waiting for us to be a part of them, to partner as a true partner, to make a difference in health disparities.

And, you know, a lot of the health needs and the needs for physicians are similar in those locations.

Some of them are different, but some of them are similar.

So we thought maybe we can take some of what we know we do well for example, at turnover and now do it in West Louisville.

Part of it is that we don't have training programs that send students out there, so students don't know what to expect.

And if students haven't lived in a rural community, sometimes there are misperceptions about it, sometimes there's fear.

What I would like for this grant to do is increase their diversity in their workforce.

That is one of the things I really would like to see.

But I also want to see that we are having our students are eventual physicians going into areas like what I grew up in and for the students that may be coming up behind them to see that that's possible, that this is what I want to be because they have the experience, they are able to see someone in those spaces that they may not even invasion before.

The School of Medicine is existing programs, including the post baccalaureate pre-med program and the overall track will be expanded with the new funding.

In addition to scholarships, the students will receive academic coaching to ensure they graduate.