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Article 4. Health Professions Planning Grants of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 107. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 4.

For the purpose of this article, "innovative programs of education in the health professions" means programs for the development of physicians and surgeons, podiatrists, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, optometrists, and occupations in the allied health professions, that emphasize all of the following:
  (a) The practice in the community on the part of graduates of the program.
  (b) The utilization of existing teaching resources and clinical care facilities within the community where the program is located.
  (c) The development of curricular mechanisms that allow for movement from one occupational category to the next, up to and including the doctor of medicine level.
  (d) The training of persons possessing previously acquired health care skills, for positions of greater responsibility, with an emphasis upon corpsmen honorably discharged from the military.
  (e) The training of persons with little or no formal education but with a willingness and aptitude to acquire health care skills.
  (f) The development of coordination with community health care facilities to insure quality education and satisfactory employment opportunities for graduates of the program.
The office, in cooperation with the California Postsecondary Education Commission, shall administer the program established pursuant to this article and shall for this purpose, adopt regulations as it determines are reasonably necessary to carry out this article.
The office is authorized to make grants, from funds appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose, to assist organizations in meeting the cost of special projects to plan, develop, or establish innovative programs of education in the health professions, or for research in the various fields related to education in the health professions, or to develop training for new types of health professions personnel, or to meet the costs of planning experimental teaching facilities. In determining priority of project applications, the office shall give the highest priority to:
  (1) Applicants able to obtain commitments for matching planning funds from other governmental and private sources.
  (2) Applicants who develop a preliminary plan that conforms to the criteria stated hereinabove for innovative programs of education in the health sciences.
  (3) Applicants that in its judgment are most able to translate a plan into a feasible program.
(a) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall report to the Legislature on or before June 30, 2002, on the feasibility of establishing a California dental loan forgiveness program utilizing the same general guidelines applicable to the federal National Health Service Corps State Loan Repayment Program (42 U.S.C.A. Sec. 254q-1; 42 C.F.R., Part 62, Subpart C (commencing with Section 62.51)), except as follows:
  (1) A dentist shall be eligible to participate in the loan forgiveness program if he or she provides full-time or half-time dental services in either of the following:
  (A) A dental health professional shortage area (DHPSA), established pursuant to Section 254e(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
  (B) An area of the state where unmet priority needs for dentists exist as determined by the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission pursuant to Section 128225.
  (2) Matching funds to repay a portion of the dentist's outstanding loan amount shall be required from the practice site areas or from other private nonprofit sources.
  (3) A qualifying practice site shall include a private dental practice.
  (b) (1) The report required under subdivision (a) shall include all of the following:
  (A) A projection of the dentist-to-population ratio for California in the next decade.
  (B) A determination of the future need for dentists and dental care in underserved communities. The office shall work collaboratively with organizations that represent providers of dental services to underserved communities in making this determination.
  (C) A report on the utilization by dentists of tuition loan repayment programs at the federal and state level and identify the barriers to full utilization of these loan repayment programs.
  (D) A report on the projected cost increase of dental school education at public and private postsecondary educational institutions.
  (E) A report on the implications of administering an additional program, including a cost analysis.
  (2) The report also shall include recommendations on whether a program described in subdivision (a) should be established and, if so, suggested funding sources. In making its recommendations, the office shall consider the impact of the program on access to dental services in areas of the state that currently have a shortage of dentists.