                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONDITIONAL GRANTS FOR CERTAIN MEDICAL STUDENTS (§ 32.1-122.6)

A. With such funds as are appropriated for this purpose, the Board of Health
shall establish annual medical scholarships for students who intend to enter the
designated specialties of family practice medicine, general internal medicine,
pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology and who are in good standing at a medical
school in the United States that has received accreditation or provisional
accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the Bureau of
Professional Education of the American Osteopathic Association. No recipient
shall be awarded more than five scholarships. The amount and number of such
scholarships shall be determined annually as provided in the appropriation act.
The Commissioner shall act as fiscal agent for the Board in administration of
the scholarship funds.

B. The Board shall promulgate regulations to administer this scholarship program
that shall include:

   1. Qualifications of applicants;

   2. Criteria for award of the scholarships to assure that recipients will
   fulfill the practice obligations established in this section;

   3. Standards to assure that these scholarships increase access to primary
   health care for individuals who are indigent or who are recipients of public
   assistance;

   4. Assurances that bona fide residents of Virginia, as determined by &#xA7;
   23.1-502, students of economically disadvantaged backgrounds and residents of
   medically underserved areas are given preference over nonresidents in
   determining scholarship eligibility and awards;

   5. Assurances that scholarship recipients will begin medical practice in one
   of the designated specialties in an underserved area of the Commonwealth
   within two years following completion of their residencies;

   6. Methods for reimbursement of the Commonwealth by recipients who fail to
   complete medical school or who fail to honor the obligation to engage in
   medical practice for a period of years equal to the number of annual
   scholarships received;

   7. Procedures for reimbursing any recipient who has repaid the Commonwealth
   for part or all of any scholarship and who later fulfills the terms of his
   contract; and

   8. Reporting of data related to the recipients of the scholarships by the
   medical schools.

C. Prior to the award of any scholarship, the applicant shall sign a contract in
which he agrees to engage continuously in one of the designated specialties of
medical practice in an underserved area in Virginia for a period of years equal
to the number of annual scholarships received. The contract shall specify that
no form of medical practice such as military service or public health service
may be substituted for the obligation to practice in one of the designated
specialties in an underserved area in the Commonwealth.
			The contract shall provide that the applicant will not voluntarily obligate
himself for more than the minimum period of military service required for
physicians by the laws of the United States and that, upon completion of this
minimum period of obligatory military service, the applicant will promptly begin
to practice in an underserved area in one of the designated specialties for the
requisite number of years. The contract shall include other provisions as
considered necessary by the Attorney General and the Commissioner.
			The contract may be terminated by the recipient while the recipient is
enrolled in medical school upon providing notice and immediate repayment of the
total amount of scholarship funds received plus interest at the prevailing bank
rate for similar amounts of unsecured debt.

D. In the event the recipient fails to maintain a satisfactory scholastic
standing, the recipient may, upon certification of the Commissioner, be relieved
of the obligations under the contract to engage in medical practice in an
underserved area upon repayment to the Commonwealth of the total amount of
scholarship funds received plus interest at the prevailing bank rate for similar
amounts of unsecured debt.

E. In the event the recipient dies or becomes permanently disabled so as not to
be able to engage in the practice of medicine, the recipient or his estate may,
upon certification of the Commissioner, be relieved of the obligation under the
contract to engage in medical practice in an underserved area upon repayment to
the Commonwealth of the total amount of scholarship funds plus interest on such
amount computed at eight percent per annum from the date of receipt of
scholarship funds. This obligation may be waived in whole or in part by the
Commissioner in his discretion upon application by the recipient or his estate
to the Commissioner with proof of hardship or inability to pay.

F. Except as provided in subsections D and E, any recipient of a scholarship who
fails or refuses to fulfill his obligation to practice medicine in one of the
designated specialties in an underserved area for a period of years equal to the
number of annual scholarships received shall reimburse the Commonwealth three
times the total amount of the scholarship funds received plus interest at the
prevailing bank rate for similar amounts of unsecured debt. If the recipient has
fulfilled part of his contractual obligations by serving in an underserved area
in one of the designated specialties, the total amount of the scholarship funds
received shall be reduced by the amount of the annual scholarship multiplied by
the number of years served.

G. The Commissioner shall collect all repayments required by this section and
may establish a schedule of payments for reimbursement consistent with the
regulations of the Board. No schedule of payments shall amortize the total
amount due for a period of longer than two years following the completion of the
recipient&#8217;s postgraduate training or the recipient&#8217;s entrance into
the full-time practice of medicine, whichever is later. All such funds,
including any interest thereon, shall be used only for the purposes of this
section and shall not revert to the general fund. If any recipient fails to make
any payment when and as due, the Commissioner shall notify the Attorney General.
The Attorney General shall take such action as he deems proper. In the event
court action is required to collect a delinquent scholarship account, the
recipient shall be responsible for the court costs and reasonable attorney fees
incurred by the Commonwealth in such collection.

H. For purposes of this section, the term &#8220;underserved area&#8221;
includes those medically underserved areas designated by the Board pursuant to
&#xA7; 32.1-122.5 and health professional shortage areas designated in
accordance with the criteria established in 42 C.F.R. Part 5.

HISTORY: 1990, cc. 874, 877; 1991, c. 134; 1994, cc. 281, 867; 2000, c. 926;
2001, c. 188; 2002, cc. 87, 478; 2015, c. 532.