JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Numerous additional doctors from around the U.S. could become eligible to treat patients in Missouri’s underserved areas as a result of a planned expansion of a first-in-the-nation law aimed at addressing a pervasive doctor shortage.

The newly passed Missouri legislation would broaden the reach of a 2014 law that sought to bridge the gap between communities in need of doctors and physicians in need of jobs. That law created a new category of licensed professionals — “assistant physicians” — for people who graduate from medical school and pass key medical exams but aren’t placed in residency programs needed for certification.

But it took nearly 2 1/2 years before Missouri finally began accepting applications on Jan. 31. By then, some applicants no longer qualified because too much time had lapsed since their medical exams. Missouri’s new legislation seeks to turn back the clock, so those who became ineligible during the slow roll out can still get licensed as assistant physicians.

Supporters hope the legislation, if signed by the governor, will help jumpstart a program that has been promoted as a model for other states.

“We’ve been trying for years to address our maldistribution of physicians in the country. We have all sorts of incentive programs and all sorts of ways to try to get them to go out to Podunk, but a lot of them just don’t want to go to Podunk,” said Missouri Rep. Keith Frederick, an orthopedic surgeon who sponsored the assistant physician law.

“This bill takes folks that very much want to ply their trade — they just want the opportunity to provide patient care — and the bill requires that they serve in an underserved area,” Frederick added.

Nearly 6,800 places in the U.S. are short on primary care physicians, from particular medical clinics to certain urban communities and entire rural counties, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 225 are in Missouri — a disproportionately high amount compared with the state’s population.