Will High-Caliber Doctors Practice In Low-Appeal Places?

Medical Professionals Often Avoid Places Like the San Joaquin Valley, But One Place In Kansas Might Have Some Ideas

It takes a special kind of doctor to practice in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

It’s one of the state’s sickest regions, with high rates of obesity and diabetes and an epidemic of asthma. It’s one of the poorest regions in California, which hardly makes it lucrative for new doctors looking to pay off student loans. And it has the worst air quality in the country.

Not surprisingly, the Valley has far fewer primary-care physicians and specialists than are recommended by nationally recognized benchmarks. Where the recommended number of primary-care physicians is 60 …