Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a) Number. Thirty such awards shall be made
annually.
(b) Eligibility.
(1) A candidate shall be eligible to compete
for such a scholarship if the candidate will begin or continue approved
professional study of medicine or osteopathy during the college year
immediately following the college year in which the competition is
held.
(2) Candidates will be placed
within the appropriate priority group set forth in paragraph (a) of subdivision
4 of section
605 of the Education Law, ranked in
accordance with family income. Candidates whose family incomes are identical
will be ranked by score on an examination acceptable to the
commissioner.
(c) Areas
of shortage of physicians. For the purposes of this program, areas of shortage
of physicians shall be designated by the Regents, after consultation with the
Commissioner of Health, and in accordance with criteria and standards
established by the Regents.
(d)
Approved practice of medicine.
(1) To qualify
for cancellation of repayment pursuant to the terms of subdivision 4 of section
605 of the Education Law, the recipient of
an award must establish a practice of medicine or be employed as a licensed
physician to serve an area designated by the Regents as having a shortage of
physicians, and he must provide essentially full-time direct patient care to
the residents of such area. The prime criterion which must be fulfilled in
order for a physician to qualify for approval is that such medical practice or
employment must serve to reduce the shortage of physicians providing direct
patient care in the designated area. If agency, institution or government
employment, or participation in a group practice of medicine, fulfills the
foregoing requirements, such activity may be approved for the purposes of this
program. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, the approved
practice of medicine may not include service as intern or resident in an
approved training program.
(2)
Award recipients who, on or after January 1, 1988, commence an approved
residency training program in family practice or an approved residency or
fellowship training program in geriatrics at any location, or an approved
residency training program in general internal medicine, general pediatrics,
general obstetrics and gynecology or emergency medicine which is conducted in
an area designated by the Regents as a primary care physician shortage area,
shall be credited with one month of service toward fulfillment of their service
obligation for every two months of service completed in such an approved
residency training program, up to a maximum credit of 18 months of
service.
(3) Entrance into an
approved practice of medicine must begin not later than one year after the
completion of professional training and/or completion of active military
service, unless the Commissioner of Education shall specify a later date upon a
finding that such deferral is consistent with the purposes of the Regents
physician shortage scholarship program. Professional training shall be
considered to be the completion of all internships and residencies normally
required by the recipient's field of specialization. Further, if an area is
designated by the Regents as a shortage area at the time that an award
recipient completed his professional training and/or military service, the
practice of medicine by this recipient in such area shall be considered as
approved practice for purposes of this program, even if the designation of such
area should subsequently be changed by the Regents.
(e) Revocation of awards. Should an award
recipient at any point before completion of the medical degree program cancel
or withdraw the agreement to practice medicine in an area having a shortage of
physicians, or should the award be revoked for other cause, the recipient shall
not thereafter be eligible for further awards under the provisions of
subdivision 3 or 4 of section
605 of the Education Law, and if the
recipient fails to comply with the requirements concerning approved practice
upon completion of h s professional training, the full amount of the awards
already received shall be subject to repayment, without regard to other Regents
scholarship or tuition assistance program awards which the award recipient may
otherwise have been entitled to receive for medical study completed before such
revocation. However, an award shall not be revoked solely for reason of
discontinuing residence in an area of shortage of physicians after the
effective date of the award.
