Email UpdatesGraduate medical education (GME) funds are entitlement-based, formula-driven reimbursements provided primarily by federal and state government programs, with significant contributions from private sources, to teaching institutions. GME funds are designed to cover the direct costs of medical education (such as resident stipends and faculty salaries) and the indirect costs associated with the increased resource use typical of a teaching environment (such as extra tests and staff time).
GME funds provide a potential funding mechanism to support the training of residents in integrated behavioral health, which can help practices offset staffing costs and build internal capacity.3 To access these funds, a primary care practice must have a formal, written agreement with an accredited, eligible residency program to be considered a non-hospital training site. Once the agreement is established, the teaching hospital or the sponsoring institution can count residents training at the practice for GME funding purposes.
GME Funding Programs
- Medicare GME: Provides grant funding for resident stipends, salaries, and administrative costs in accredited programs, primarily for hospital-based sites, and supports residents in various specialties, including psychiatry. Learn more about Medicare GME.
- State Medicaid GME: Allows states to receive federal matching funds for hospital-based training costs, with flexibility to also fund community-based training for allopathic and osteopathic residents. Learn more about State Medicaid GME (PDF – 5 MB).
- Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)’s Teaching Health Center GME (THCGME) Program: Offers grant funding to support resident training in community-based ambulatory patient care centers, such as federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics, for residents in primary care specialties, including psychiatry. Learn more about the THCGME Program.
- HRSA’s Primary Care Training and Enhancement - Residency Training in Mental and Behavioral Health (PCTE-RTMB) Program: Provides grants to programs that train primary care residents to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental and behavioral health conditions. Learn more about the PCTE-RTMB Program.
- HRSA’s Primary Care Training and Enhancement - Physician Assistant Rural Training in Behavioral Health (PCTE-PARB) Program: Offers grant funding to develop clinical rotations in rural areas that integrate behavioral health services with primary care for physician assistant students. Learn more about the PCTE-PARB Program.
- HRSA’s Children’s Hospital GME Payment (CHGME) Program: Supports the education and training of residents at freestanding children's hospitals to enhance their ability to care for low-income patients, including pediatric residents and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. Learn more about the CHGME Program.
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