“To establish a grant program to support schools of medicine and schools of osteopathic medicine in underserved areas.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a grant program under the Public Health Service Act authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to institutions of higher education (including consortia) for establishing, improving, or expanding schools of medicine or osteopathic medicine, or their branch campuses, with priority to applicants proposing such activities in medically underserved communities or health professional shortage areas lacking existing schools (or minority-serving schools, as applicable) and to certain minority-serving institutions. Grant funds must be used to recruit, enroll, and retain medical students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds (including racial/ethnic minorities, rural/underserved residents, low-income individuals, and first-generation college students) and to develop curriculum emphasizing care for rural and underserved populations; funds may also be used to plan and construct facilities (with conditions), pursue accreditation, hire diverse faculty and staff, support educational programs, modernize infrastructure, or conduct related activities, with awards distributed equitably across U.S. regions. Grantees must submit annual reports to the Secretary, who must report to Congress every five years beginning five years after enactment, detailing awardees, student enrollment and demographics (deidentified and disaggregated), and graduates entering internships or residencies.