I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1271 

To establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a pilot program instituting 

a clinical observation program for pre-med students preparing to attend 

medical school. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. KILMER, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. RYAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a pilot 

program instituting a clinical observation program for 

pre-med students preparing to attend medical school. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans-Specific Edu5 cation for Tomorrow’s Health Professionals Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘Vet HP Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEPARTMENT OF 

2 VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PROGRAM FOR 

3 CLINICAL OBSERVATION BY UNDER4 GRADUATE STUDENTS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that the pilot program 

6 described in section 3(a) should be designed to— 

7 (1) increase the awareness, knowledge, and em8 pathy of future health professionals toward the 

9 health conditions common to veterans; 

10 (2) increase the diversity of the recruitment 

11 pool of future physicians of the Department; and 

12 (3) expand clinical observation opportunities for 

13 all students by encouraging students of all back14 grounds to consider a career in the health profes15 sions. 

16 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO17 GRAM FOR CLINICAL OBSERVATION BY UN18 DERGRADUATE STUDENTS. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

20 Affairs shall carry out a pilot program for a one-year pe21 riod, beginning not later than August 15, 2021, to provide 

22 certain students described in subsection (d) a clinical ob23 servation experience at medical centers of the Department 

24 of Veterans Affairs. 

25 (b) MEDICAL CENTER SELECTION.—The Secretary 

26 shall carry out the pilot program under this section at not 


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1 fewer than five medical centers of the Department. In se2 lecting such medical centers, the Secretary shall ensure 

3 regional diversity among such selected medical centers. 

4 (c) CLINICAL OBSERVATION SESSIONS.— 

5 (1) FREQUENCY AND DURATION.—In carrying 

6 out the pilot program, the Secretary shall— 

7 (A) provide at least one and not more than 

8 three clinical observation sessions at each med9 ical center selected during each calendar year; 

10 (B) ensure that each clinical observation 

11 session— 

12 (i) lasts between four and six months; 

13 and 

14 (ii) to the extent practicable, begins 

15 and ends concurrently with one or more 

16 academic terms of an institution of higher 

17 education (as defined in section 101 of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1001)); and 

20 (C) ensure that the clinical observation 

21 sessions provided at a medical center have mini22 mal overlap. 

23 (2) SESSIONS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

24 the pilot program consists of clinical observation ses25 sions as follows: 


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1 (A) Each session shall allow for not fewer 

2 than five students nor greater than 15 students 

3 to participate in the session. 

4 (B) Each session shall consist of not fewer 

5 than 20 observational hours nor greater than 

6 40 observational hours. 

7 (C) A majority of the observational hours 

8 shall be spent observing a health professional. 

9 The other observational hours shall be spent in 

10 a manner that ensures a robust, well rounded 

11 experience that exposes the students to a vari12 ety of aspects of medical care and health care 

13 administration. 

14 (D) Each session shall provide a diverse 

15 clinical observation experience. 

16 (d) STUDENTS.— 

17 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select to 

18 participate in the pilot program under subsection (a) 

19 students who are— 

20 (A) nationals of the United States; 

21 (B) enrolled in an accredited program of 

22 study at an institution of higher education; and 

23 (C) referred by their institution of higher 

24 education following an internal application proc25 ess. 


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1 (2) PRIORITY.—In making such selection, the 

2 Secretary shall give priority to each of the following 

3 five categories of students: 

4 (A) Students who, at the time of the com5 pletion of their secondary education, resided in 

6 a health professional shortage area (as defined 

7 in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 254e)). 

9 (B) First generation college students (as 

10 defined in section 402A(h)(3) of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 

12 (C) Students who have been referred by 

13 minority-serving institutions (as defined in sec14 tion 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 

16 (D) Veterans (as defined in section 101 of 

17 title 38, United States Code). 

18 (E) Students who indicate an intention to 

19 specialize in a health professional occupation 

20 identified by the Inspector General of the De21 partment under section 7412 of title 38, United 

22 States Code, as having a staffing shortage. 

23 (3) ASSIGNMENT TO MEDICAL CENTERS.—The 

24 Secretary shall assign students selected under para25 graph (1) to medical centers selected under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.IH H1271

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1 section (b) without regard for whether such medical 

2 centers have staffing shortages in any health profes3 sional occupation pursuant to section 7412 of title 

4 38, United States Code. 

5 (e) OTHER MATTERS.—In carrying out the pilot pro6 gram under this section, the Secretary shall— 

7 (1) establish a formal status to facilitate the ac8 cess to medical centers of the Department by stu9 dent observers participating in the pilot program; 

10 (2) establish standardized legal, privacy, and 

11 ethical requirements for the student observers, in12 cluding with respect to— 

13 (A) ensuring that no student observer pro14 vides any care to patients while participating as 

15 an observer; and 

16 (B) ensuring the suitability of a student to 

17 participate in the pilot program to ensure that 

18 the student poses no risk to patients; 

19 (3) develop and implement a partnership strat20 egy with minority-serving institutions to encourage 

21 referrals; 

22 (4) create standardized procedures for student 

23 observers; 


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1 (5) create an online information page about the 

2 pilot program on the internet website of the Depart3 ment; 

4 (6) publish on the online information page cre5 ated under paragraph (5) the locations of such cen6 ters, and other information on the pilot program, 

7 not later than 180 days before the date on which ap8 plications are required to be submitted by potential 

9 student observers; 

10 (7) identify medical centers and specific health 

11 professionals participating in the pilot program; and 

12 (8) notify the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

13 of the House of Representatives and the Senate of 

14 the medical centers selected under subsection (c) 

15 within 30 days of selection, to facilitate program 

16 awareness. 

17 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com18 pletion of the pilot program under subsection (a), the Sec19 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 

20 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 

21 on the results of the pilot program, including— 

22 (1) the number and demographics of all appli23 cants, those accepted to participate in the pilot pro24 gram, and those who completed the pilot program; 

25 and 


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1 (2) if participating institutions of higher edu2 cation choose to administer satisfaction surveys that 

3 assess the experience of those who completed the 

4 pilot program, the results of any such satisfaction 

5 surveys, provided at the discretion of the institution 

6 of higher education. 

7 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

8 No additional funds are authorized to be appro9 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such 

10 requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 

11 authorized to be appropriated. 

Æ 


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