§ 293m — Rural Physician Training Grants

(a) The Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a grant program for the purposes of assisting eligible entities in recruiting students most likely to practice medicine in underserved rural communities, providing rural-focused training and experience, and increasing the number of recent allopathic and osteopathic medical school graduates who practice in underserved rural communities. (b) In order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an entity shall— (1) be a school of allopathic or osteopathic medicine accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association approved by the Secretary for this purpose, or any combination or consortium of such schools; and (2) submit an application to the Secretary that includes a certification that such entity will use amounts provided to the institution as described in subsection (d)(1). (c) In awarding grant funds under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that— (1) demonstrate a record of successfully training students, as determined by the Secretary, who practice medicine in underserved rural communities; (2) demonstrate that an existing academic program of the eligible entity produces a high percentage, as determined by the Secretary, of graduates from such program who practice medicine in underserved rural communities; (3) demonstrate rural community institutional partnerships, through such mechanisms as matching or contributory funding, documented in-kind services for implementation, or existence of training partners with interprofessional expertise in community health center training locations or other similar facilities; or (4) submit, as part of the application of the entity under subsection (b), a plan for the long-term tracking of where the graduates of such entity practice medicine. (1) An eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall use the funds made available under such grant to establish, improve, or expand a rural-focused training program (referred to in this section as the “Program”) meeting the requirements described in this subsection and to carry out such program. (2) An eligible entity shall— (A) enroll no fewer than 10 students per class year into the Program; and (B) develop criteria for admission to the Program that gives priority to students— (i) who have originated from or lived for a period of 2 or more years in an underserved rural community; and (ii) who express a commitment to practice medicine in an underserved rural community. (3) The Program shall require students to enroll in didactic coursework and clinical experience particularly applicable to medical practice in underserved rural communities, including— (A) clinical rotations in underserved rural communities, and in applicable specialties, or other coursework or clinical experience deemed appropriate by the Secretary; and (B) in addition to core school curricula, additional coursework or training experiences focused on medical issues prevalent in underserved rural communities. (4) Where available, the Program shall assist all students of the Program in obtaining clinical training experiences in locations with postgraduate programs offering residency training opportunities in underserved rural communities, or in local residency training programs that support and train physicians to practice in underserved rural communities. (5) The Program shall provide and require all students of the Program to participate in group activities designed to further develop, maintain, and reinforce the original commitment of such students to practice in an underserved rural community. (e) An eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall submit an annual report to the Secretary on the success of the Program, based on criteria the Secretary determines appropriate, including the residency program selection of graduating students who participated in the Program. (f) Not later than 60 days after March 23, 2010, the Secretary shall by regulation define “underserved rural community” for purposes of this section. (g) Any eligible entity receiving funds under this section shall use such funds to supplement, not supplant, any other Federal, State, and local funds that would otherwise be expended by such entity to carry out the activities described in this section. (h) With respect to activities for which funds awarded under this section are to be expended, the entity shall agree to maintain expenditures of non-Federal amounts for such activities at a level that is not less than the level of such expenditures maintained by the entity for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the entity receives a grant under this section. (i) There are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2013.