(Des Moines, Iowa) – House lawmakers in Iowa passed a measure 67-28 Wednesday, to require at least 80% of students admitted to the University of Iowa’s medical and dentistry colleges to be Iowa residents or people enrolled at Iowa colleges.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports an analysis from the Legislative Services Agency for the 2024 academic year, showed an estimated 70% of students at the UI College of Medicine and College of Dentistry are Iowa residents. Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, said the measure requiring the Board of Regents adopt a policy requiring a higher percentage of Iowans to make up the student body at these colleges would lead to more people staying in the state to practice after completing their education and residency.

Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges found nationwide, 54.2% of medical practitioners who completed their residency from 2008 to 2017 are practicing in the state where they received residency training. The AAMC data found Iowa had a lower rate than the national average at 45.2% of residents choosing to practice in Iowa after their residency. More recent data found that between 2020 to 2024, 81% of Iowa residents who graduated from the UI medical school left for residency, and in 2024, only 44% of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics residents stayed in the state after completing the program.

Democrats acknowledged that physician shortages and student retention were issues in Iowa, but said limiting out-of-state students from coming to Iowa for training was not the best way to address these problems. Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, introduced an amendment to require that Iowa residents receive 80% athletic scholarships offered at state universities. Zabner withdrew the amendment, but first argued recruiting talented individuals from places outside Iowa was needed to make Iowa’s college athletic teams competitive. He said the same logic should be applied to Iowa’s medical program. He said the restriction would limit Iowa medical school from being “at the top of its game.”

The bill was successfully amended to include several provisions from other bills, including language giving priority for some medical residencies and fellowships to Iowa residents and people who received a post-secondary education in Iowa. The final bill also includes language requiring that residents in high-need fields like family practice, internal medicine, OB-GYN and psychiatry are given the opportunity to participate in a rural rotation “in order to expose the resident or fellow to rural areas of the state.”

The bill would also require the UIHC program to offer interviews for medical residencies in high-need fields to people with Iowa connections. The bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration.