HARRISBURG -- Many aspiring doctors who go to medical school in Pennsylvania leave the state after graduation to practice elsewhere. And Pennsylvania physicians, like the state's overall population, are growing older, with many nearing retirement age and an increasingly smaller percentage under age 35.

Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, said yesterday he's trying to address "the state's growing medical crisis" by making it more financially attractive for graduating doctors to stay and practice somewhere in this state rather than taking their talents elsewhere.

So he's introduced legislation, House Bill 1093, that would "forgive" a doctor's medical school loans -- which can be $100,000 or more -- if the physician agrees to practice in Pennsylvania for at least 10 years after graduation from medical school.

The loan repayments -- which the state would make to a medical school -- would be done at 10 percent a year, for 10 years. If doctors changed their minds and left the state before the full 10 years was up, they would have to repay the state for the amount paid up to that time.

Mr. Shapiro said only about 8 percent of the doctors who train at Pennsylvania medical schools end up staying and practicing in this state. He also said the percentage of Pennsylvania doctors younger than 35 has been dropping for the past 15 years, and now stands at a disturbingly low 3 percent.

Another factor that is causing doctors to flee the state is the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, caused, in part, by high damage amounts awarded in malpractice lawsuits against doctors, but House Bill 1093 doesn't address that issue. The Legislature has, so far without success, tried to enact "tort reform," meaning capping non-economic damages against doctors.

"The percent of [physician residents] remaining in the state to practice after completing their training has decreased significantly over the past 10 years,'' Mr. Shapiro said. "With the growing demand for health care in the state, coupled with the large number of physicians retiring in the next decade, we are facing a crisis that needs to be addressed now."

Loan "forgiveness" means state government would pay for the doctors' sizeable medical school bills. Supporters of the bill said it was hard to gauge the exact cost to the state but it could rise to $40 million a year once physicians took full advantage of it for all four years of medical school.

The bill did get support from John Derrickson, executive director of the state chapter of the American College of Physicians, and Roger Mecum, executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

"This bill will help Pennsylvania retain doctors," Mr. Mecum said. "Many doctors are aging and will be retiring and now it's difficult to recruit doctors into Pennsylvania."