The school of medicine at the University of Washington shall develop and implement a policy to grant admission preference to prospective medical students from rural areas of the state who agree to serve for at least five years as primary care physicians in rural areas of Washington after completion of their medical education and have applied for and meet the qualifications of the program under chapter
28B.115 RCW. Should the school of medicine be unable to fill any or all of the admission openings due to a lack of applicants from rural areas who meet minimum qualifications for study at the medical school, it may admit students not eligible for preferential admission under this section.