38 U.S.C. § 7696 — Term of obligated service

(a) In General: On top of the requirements in 5 U.S.C. § 5379(c), before the Secretary may make any payment to or for a participant, the participant must agree in writing to: (1) get a license to practice medicine in a state; (2) successfully finish post-graduate training that makes them eligible for board certification in their specialty; (3) work full-time in clinical practice for the Veterans Health Administration for 12 months for every $40,000 in benefits received, but never fewer than 24 months total; and (4) except as in (b), start that full-time work no later than 60 days after finishing residency. (b) Fellowship: If a participant gets an accredited fellowship in a medical specialty other than one described in section 7692, the Secretary may — if the participant asks in writing — delay the start of the obligated-service period under (a) until after the fellowship ends, but no later than 60 days after it ends. (c) Penalty: (1) An employee who doesn't complete their period of obligated service under this section owes the federal government an amount figured with this formula: A equals B times ((T minus S) divided by T). (2) In the formula: (A) "A" is the amount the employee owes; (B) "B" is the total of all payments made to or for the participant under the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program; (C) "T" is the total number of months in the employee's period of obligated service; and (D) "S" is the number of whole months of that period the employee actually served. Worked through step by step: subtract the months served (S) from the total months owed (T), divide that result by T, then multiply by the total amount paid (B) — that's what the employee owes.