A private, for-profit Idaho medical school will begin fall classes Monday, with a record first-year class.

This week, 231 new students arrived for orientation at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine in Meridian.

The largest incoming class in ICOM’s 10-year history includes 38 Idaho students, and graduates from 125 colleges and universities in 31 states.

“We are very excited to welcome ICOM’s newest student physicians,” ICOM Chief Academic Officer Kevin Wilson said in a news release. “They are beginning their journey to becoming caring and competent osteopathic physicians prepared to care for people in Idaho and other underserved communities across the United States. We are working diligently to help solve the physician shortage crisis across our state.”

ICOM has emerged as one focal point in the ongoing debate over Idaho’s acute physician shortage. Idaho ranks last in the nation in physicians per capita.

Lawmakers have discussed using taxpayer money to subsidize Idaho students’ medical tuition at ICOM — similar to the state’s partnership with medical schools at the University of Washington and University of Utah. Earlier this month, a legislative committee discussed another possibility: using some of Idaho’s share of federal healthcare grants to subsidize medical school seats.

Idaho has no partnership with ICOM, but the school is closely aligned with Idaho State University and its adjacent Meridian campus.