I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 739

To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to increasing the

number of health professionals who practice in the United States in

a field of primary health care.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 12, 1997

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

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to

increasing the number of health professionals who practice in the United States in a field of primary health

care.

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 ‘‘Primary Health Care

5 Education Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT IN CERTAIN HEALTH PROFES2 SIONS EDUCATION PROGRAMS OF PREF3 ERENCE PROVISIONS REGARDING PRIMARY

4 HEALTH CARE.

5 Section 791 of the Public Health Service Act (42

6 U.S.C. 295j) is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as

8 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and

9 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow10 ing subsection:

11 ‘‘(b) PREFERENCES REGARDING PRIMARY HEALTH

12 CARE.—

13 ‘‘(1) SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE.—

14 ‘‘(A) In making awards of grants and con15 tracts under this title to schools of medicine or

16 osteopathic medicine, the Secretary shall give

17 preference to any such school that, in accord18 ance with such criteria as the Secretary may es19 tablish, carries out a program—

20 ‘‘(i) to emphasize training in primary

21 health care; and

22 ‘‘(ii) to encourage the students of the

23 school to enter a field of primary health

24 care as a career choice.
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1 ‘‘(B) In determining whether a school of

2 medicine or osteopathic medicine meets the con3 ditions for receiving preference under subpara4 graph (A), the Secretary shall include among

5 the factors considered the following:

6 ‘‘(i) Whether the school has a depart7 ment, division, or other academic unit

8 whose principal purpose is to provide clini9 cal instruction in family medicine.

10 ‘‘(ii) If the school has such a unit,

11 whether the school provides significant

12 funding for the unit (with the amount of

13 funding expressed as the ratio of the budg14 et for the unit to the number of students

15 enrolled in the school).

16 ‘‘(iii) Whether the school requires that

17 each student of the school, as a condition

18 of receiving a degree from the school, have

19 significant clinical training in family medi20 cine, general internal medicine, and gen21 eral pediatrics by the end of the third year

22 of the curriculum.
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1 ‘‘(iv) Whether, in undergoing clinical

2 training, students of the school receive in3 struction from the faculty of medical resi4 dency training programs in fields of pri5 mary health care.

6 ‘‘(2) MEDICAL RESIDENCY TRAINING PRO7 GRAMS.—In making awards of grants and contracts

8 under this title to entities that operate medical resi9 dency training programs, the Secretary shall give

10 preference to any such entity that, in accordance

11 with such criteria as the Secretary may establish,

12 ensures that each resident, in undergoing clinical

13 training—

14 ‘‘(A) receives instruction from the faculty

15 of medical residency training programs in fields

16 of primary health care; or

17 ‘‘(B) has rotations providing training in

18 such fields.’’.

19 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 This Act takes effect October 1, 1997, or upon the

21 date of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.

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