- Individuals in the Reserve Component of the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard are eligible to participate. If participation in the reserves, in combination with other absences from the services site, exceed 35 workdays per service year, the service obligation will be extended to compensate for the break in full-time service.
- Applicants support once.
- Not have a judgment lien against property for debt to the United States.
- Not have defaulted on any FEDERAL payment obligations (e.g., Health Education Assistance Loans, Federal income tax liabilities, Federal Housing Authority loans, etc.) even if the creditor now considers them to be in good standing;
- Commit to full-time clinical practice, providing primary health services, at an eligible site. Full-time clinical practice and eligible practice sites are defined above in Program Requirements and Contractual Obligations.
- Commit to practice in eligible rural SC counties in a setting approved by the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare for rural practice. Eligible counties must have populations of 100,000 or fewer persons according to the most recent United States Census and be designated as a Primary Medical Care or Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) by the federal government.
- While the Census and HPSA designation is an important qualifier for this program, the program will not approve practice sites solely upon a HPSA designation. Criteria for selection also include priority targeting of SC counties (Population Tiers), including Health Outcomes, Specialty mix, Practice Type, presence of other program recipients, County Rank, and Previous Awards.
- All recipients are required to sign an agreement to the terms and conditions upon which awards are granted. This establishes the amount of the award, the terms and conditions of program participation, obligated service, and the conditions of default and repayment.
Time spent on-call is not considered part of full-time practice
Award recipients must practice their profession for a period of at least four years at a site approved by the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. Approved sites must be located in a federally recognized Primary Medical Care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) or Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (MHPSA) for psychiatrists, which are also in a SC County designated as high need according the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare methodology.
An exception to these rules is allowed for providers of obstetrical care
Full-time clinical practice is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per week of patient care at an approved service site, with no more than eight of those hours per week devoted to practice-related administrative activities. At least 32 of the minimum 40 hours per week must be spent providing direct patient care. These services must be conducted during normally scheduled office hours in the ambulatory care setting office(s). The remaining hours must be spent providing inpatient care to patients of the approved site and/or performing practice-related administrative activities. Research and teaching (outside of a direct patient care environment) are not considered to be clinical practice and time spent on-call is not considered part of full-time practice.
For providers of obstetrical care (OB/GYNs or Family Physicians practicing obstetrics on a regular basis), the majority of full-time service (not less than 21 hours per week) is to be devoted to direct patient care in an approved ambulatory care practice site during normal scheduled office hours. The remaining hours can be spent providing inpatient care to patients of the approved site and/or on practice related administrative duties. Time spent on administrative duties cannot exceed eight hours per week. For all physicians, 40 hours per week may be compressed into no less than four days per week with no more than 12 hours of work to be performed in any 24-hour period. Hours worked over 40 hours per week will not be applied to any other work week. Participants must work at least 45 weeks per service year providing primary health services. No more than seven weeks (35 http://getbadcreditloan.com/payday-loans-ca/orange workdays) per year can be spent away from the practice for vacation, holidays, continuing professional education, illness, or any other reason. Absences greater than seven weeks in a service year will extend the service commitment end date. The funds that the recipient are in addition to any other salary, benefits or other compensation the physician receives as part of a practice and/or employment arrangement provided there is no duplication of benefits. Recipients will be responsible for submitting required annual reports to allow the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare to monitor compliance with the requirements.
