Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 530 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE VIRGINIA MEDICAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM › Part IV - Contracts › Section 12VAC5-530-80 - Contractual practice obligation

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
Prior to the payment of money to a scholarship awardee, the
					 commissioner shall enter into a contract with the recipient. The contract
					 shall:
1. Provide that the recipient
				  will pursue the medical course of the school nominating the recipient for the
				  award until the recipient's graduation or will pursue the recipient's first
				  year of primary care graduate training in an accredited residency program
				  approved by the school nominating the recipient for the award and, upon
				  completing a term not to exceed three* years as a resident in an approved
				  program, will promptly begin and thereafter continuously engage in full-time
				  primary care practice in a medically underserved area of Virginia, or in a
				  designated state facility, for a period of years equal to the number of annual
				  scholarships received. At any time prior to entering practice, the scholarship
				  recipient shall be allowed to select a future practice location from the
				  listing of medically underserved areas maintained by the board, and the
				  recipient shall be allowed to fulfill the scholarship repayment obligation in
				  the preselected medically underserved area. However, after making an initial
				  selection of a medically underserved area in which to practice, the recipient
				  may not alter the decision until the recipient is fully prepared to enter
				  practice, at which time the recipient must choose from the current list of
				  medically underserved areas maintained by the board or the preselected
				  medically underserved area.
2.
				  Provide that the recipient shall notify the commissioner in writing of his
				  proposed practice location not more than 30 days after completing his approved
				  residency program. After receiving written approval of his practice location
				  from the commissioner, the recipient shall begin his approved practice not more
				  than 90 days after completing his primary care residency program.
3. Provide that the recipient may request
				  approval of a change of practice location. The commissioner in his discretion
				  may approve such a request, but only if the change is to a practice location in
				  a medically underserved area or a state facility designated by the Board of
				  Health.
4. Provide that the
				  recipient shall repay the scholarship obligation by practicing primary care
				  medicine on a full-time basis in a medically underserved area, will maintain
				  office hours convenient for the population of the area to have access to the
				  recipient's services and will participate in all government sponsored insurance
				  programs designed to assure access of covered persons to medical care services
				  such as Medicare and Medicaid, and will not selectively place limits on the
				  numbers of such patients admitted to the practice, and will charge the usual
				  and customary fees prevailing in the area in which service is provided, except
				  that if the patient is unable to pay the charge, such a patient will be charged
				  a reduced rate or will not be charged at all. This stipulation may be waived at
				  the commissioner's discretion in cases where it places undue financial burden
				  on the part of the primary care medical practice.
5. Provide that the recipient repaying the
				  scholarship obligation by practicing primary care medicine on a full-time basis
				  in a medically underserved area will maintain office hours convenient for the
				  population of the area to have access to the recipient's services.
6. Provide that the recipient shall not
				  voluntarily obligate himself for more than the minimum period of military
				  service required of physicians by the laws of the United States and that upon
				  completion of the minimum period of military service, the recipient will
				  promptly begin and thereafter continuously engage in full-time primary care
				  practice in a medically underserved area of Virginia, or in a designated state
				  facility, for the period of years equal to the number of scholarships
				  received.
7. Provide that the
				  recipient shall receive credit toward fulfillment of his contractual obligation
				  at the rate of 12 months of medical practice for each scholarship award paid to
				  the recipient. The recipient may be absent from the place of approved practice
				  for a total of seven weeks in each 12-month period for personal reasons.
				  Absence for a period in excess of seven weeks without the written permission of
				  the commissioner shall result in proportional reduction of the period of credit
				  toward fulfillment of the contractual obligation.
*NOTE: A variance (of one additional year) to the maximum
					 three-year residency limitation will be available to medical scholarship
					 recipients who choose to complete an obstetrics/gynecology residency program or
					 a certificate of added qualification in primary care upon their
					 request.
Statutory Authority
§§ 32.1-12, 32.1-122.5, 32.1-122.5:1,
						32.1-122.6, and 32.1-122.6:01 of the Code of Virginia.