I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5224 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a scholarship program 

to increase the availability of physicians who provide primary health 

care services at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2014 

Mr. MCDERMOTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a scholarship program to increase the availability of physicians 

who provide primary health care services at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘Restoring the Doctors 

5 of Our Country through Scholarships Veterans Affairs Act 

6 of 2014’’ or the ‘‘RDOCS–VA Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Medical facilities of the Department of Vet2 erans Affairs are in dire need of more physicians, 

3 with a particular need for doctors trained in primary 

4 care specialties. 

5 (2) The Health Professionals Educational As6 sistance Program established by chapter 76 of title 

7 38, United States Code, provides educational assist8 ance through scholarships and loan forgiveness for a 

9 range of health professionals, however, it does not 

10 specifically encourage a commitment to primary care 

11 by physicians employed by the Department of Vet12 erans Affairs. 

13 (3) The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps 

14 (ROTC) model of education and training is a re15 spected and effective way of meeting the need of the 

16 United States for educated and trained officers in 

17 the Armed Forces, and it can be applied to train 

18 and educate physicians to provide primary care serv19 ices. 

20 (4) Congress can build off of the Health Profes21 sionals Educational Assistance Program and the 

22 ROTC model to solve the primary care shortage by 

23 providing full-tuition scholarships to students com24 mitted to serving the United States as primary care 

25 doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF RESTORING THE DOCTORS OF 

2 OUR COUNTRY THROUGH SCHOLARSHIPS— 

3 VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 76 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subchapter: 

7 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—RESTORING THE DOCTORS 

8 OF OUR COUNTRY THROUGH SCHOLAR9 SHIPS—VETERANS AFFAIRS 

10 ‘‘§ 7691. Authority for program 

11 ‘‘As part of the Educational Assistance Program, the 

12 Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program under this 

13 subchapter in order to provide for the increased avail14 ability of physicians who provide primary health care serv15 ices at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans 

16 Affairs. The program shall be known as the Restoring the 

17 Doctors of Our Country through Scholarships–Veterans 

18 Affairs program (in this subchapter referred to as the 

19 ‘RDOCS–VA program’). 

20 ‘‘§ 7692. Scholarship program 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the RDOCS–VA 

22 program, the Secretary shall award not less than 400 

23 RDOCS–VA scholarships to individuals who are selected 

24 by the Secretary and enter into an agreement under sub25 section (b). Under such scholarships, the Secretary shall 

26 pay— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to the participating undergraduate medical 

2 program all tuition and costs for the undergraduate 

3 medical education of an RDOCS–VA scholar for a 

4 period of study not exceeding 48 consecutive 

5 months; and 

6 ‘‘(2) to the RDOCS–VA scholar a cost-of-living 

7 stipend, in an amount determined by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENT.—To participate in the RDOCS– 

9 VA program, an RDOCS–VA scholar shall agree to— 

10 ‘‘(1) be admitted into and maintain enrollment 

11 in a participating undergraduate medical program in 

12 the State of residence of the scholar (or if such 

13 State of residence operates no such program, in a 

14 participating undergraduate medical program in a 

15 State within an associated region); 

16 ‘‘(2) when enrolled in such program, maintain 

17 a minimum level of academic standing (to be deter18 mined by the Secretary); 

19 ‘‘(3) complete an accredited residency training 

20 program in a primary care specialty; 

21 ‘‘(4) become licensed to practice medicine in the 

22 State of residence of the scholar; 

23 ‘‘(5) receive and maintain board certification in 

24 a primary care specialty; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) complete a five-year post-graduate period 

2 of employment by the Department of Veterans Af3 fairs performing primary care services. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY IN AWARDING SCHOLARSHIPS.—In se5 lecting RDOCS–VA scholars and awarding scholarships 

6 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference 

7 to applicants who— 

8 ‘‘(1) are enrolled in an accelerated track family9 medicine program; or 

10 ‘‘(2) elect to complete the period of employment 

11 described in subsection (b)(6) at a facility of the De12 partment that the Secretary designates as having an 

13 urgent need for primary care physicians. 

14 ‘‘(d) INELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER EDUCATIONAL AS15 SISTANCE.—An RDOCS–VA scholar shall not be eligible 

16 for other assistance under this chapter in connection with 

17 the education received under the RDOCS–VA program. 

18 ‘‘§ 7693. Breach of agreement: liability 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An RDOCS–VA scholar (other 

20 than a scholar described in subsection (b)) who fails to 

21 accept payment, or instructs the participating under22 graduate medical program in which the scholar is enrolled 

23 not to accept payment, in whole or in part, of a scholarship 

24 under the agreement entered into under section 7692(b) 

25 of this title shall be liable to the United States for liqVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:20 Jul 31, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5224.IH H5224

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1 uidated damages in the amount of $1,500. Such liability 

2 is in addition to any period of obligated service or other 

3 obligation or liability under the agreement. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIABILITY.—(1) An RDOCS–VA scholar shall 

5 be liable to the United States for the amount which has 

6 been paid to or on behalf of the scholar under the agree7 ment entered into under section 7692(b) of this title if 

8 any of the following occurs: 

9 ‘‘(A) The scholar fails to maintain an accept10 able level of academic standing described in para11 graph (2) of such section 7692(b). 

12 ‘‘(B) The scholar is dismissed from the partici13 pating undergraduate medical program for discipli14 nary reasons. 

15 ‘‘(C) The scholar voluntarily terminates the 

16 course of training in such program before the com17 pletion of such program. 

18 ‘‘(D) The scholar fails to become licensed to 

19 practice medicine in the State of residence of the 

20 scholar during a period of time determined under 

21 regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(2) Liability under this subsection is in lieu of any 

23 service obligation arising under the agreement of the 

24 RDOCS–VA scholar. 


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1 ‘‘(c) RECOVERY.—(1) If an RDOCS–VA officer 

2 breaches the agreement by failing (for any reason) to com3 plete the period of obligated service of the officer, the 

4 United States shall be entitled to recover from the officer 

5 an amount determined in accordance with the formula de6 scribed in section 7617(c)(1) of this title. 

7 ‘‘(2) Any amount of damages which the United 

8 States is entitled to recover under this section shall be 

9 paid to the United States within the one-year period be10 ginning on the date of the breach of the agreement. 

11 ‘‘§ 7694. Reports 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall annually submit to the Commit13 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Senate a report on the physician workforce of the 

15 Department. Such report shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) the number of scholarships awarded under 

17 this subchapter during the year covered by the re18 port; 

19 ‘‘(2) data on the physician shortage of the De20 partment, if any, disaggregated by the medical facil21 ity of the Department; and 

22 ‘‘(3) a gap analysis of the primary care practi23 tioners needed in each medical facility of the De24 partment, and a five- and ten-year estimates of the 


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1 funding needed to close the gap through the 

2 RDOCS–VA program. 

3 ‘‘§ 7695. Definitions 

4 ‘‘In this subchapter: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘accelerated track family-medi6 cine program’ means an appropriately accredited, in7 tegrated course of study in which a candidate can 

8 complete undergraduate medical education and grad9 uate medical education in six years. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘associated region’ means— 

11 ‘‘(A) the area encompassing the boundaries 

12 of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, 

13 and Idaho; 

14 ‘‘(B) the area encompassing the bound15 aries of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 

16 Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Vermont; 

17 ‘‘(C) the area encompassing the boundaries 

18 of Delaware and Pennsylvania; or 

19 ‘‘(D) the area encompassing the bound20 aries of Maryland, the District of Columbia, 

21 and Virginia. 

22 ‘‘(3) The term ‘board certification’ means a cer23 tification to practice medicine in a specialty, by an 

24 appropriate medical specialty board. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘participating undergraduate 

2 medical program’ means an allopathic or osteopathic 

3 undergraduate medical program operated by a State. 

4 ‘‘(5) The term ‘primary care specialty’ means 

5 geriatrics, gerontology, family medicine, or general 

6 internal medicine. 

7 ‘‘(6) The term ‘RDOCS–VA officer’ means an 

8 RDOCS–VA program participant who has completed 

9 undergraduate medical training, but has not yet ful10 filled the remaining requirements of the scholarship 

11 agreement entered into under section 7692(b) of this 

12 title. 

13 ‘‘(7) The term ‘RDOCS–VA scholar’ means an 

14 individual participating in an RDOCS–VA program 

15 pursuant to a scholarship agreement entered into 

16 under section 7692(b) of this title, but has not yet 

17 completed undergraduate medical education. 

18 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

19 the several States and the District of Columbia.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

22 after the item relating to section 7684 the following new 

23 items: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—RESTORING THE DOCTORS OF OUR COUNTRY THROUGH

SCHOLARSHIPS—VETERANS AFFAIRS

‘‘7691. Authority for program. 

‘‘7692. Scholarship program. 


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‘‘7693. Breach of agreement: liability. 

‘‘7694. Reports. 

‘‘7695. Definitions.’’. 

Æ 


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