42 U.S.C. § 239l — Establishment

(a) United States Public Health Services Track (1) In general: The law authorizes creating the U.S. Public Health Sciences Track ("the Track") at sites the Secretary picks. It can grant advanced degrees, with special focus on team-based service, public health, epidemiology, and emergency preparedness and response. It must be set up to graduate at least (A) 150 medical students a year, 10 of whom get studentships to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences; (B) 100 dental students a year; (C) 250 nursing students a year; (D) 100 public health students a year; (E) 100 behavioral and mental health professional students a year; (F) 100 physician assistant or nurse practitioner students a year; and (G) 50 pharmacy students a year. (2) Locations: The Track must be located at existing, accredited health professions training programs at academic health centers, in regions the Surgeon General picks after consulting the National Health Care Workforce Commission. (b) Number of graduates: Beyond the minimums in (a), the Secretary decides how many people graduate from the Track. The Secretary must take steps to enroll as many first-year students as the affiliated sites can handle and as the country's need for medical, dental, and nursing staff requires. (c) Development: The Secretary may build the Track in phases, as long as the requirements in (a) are eventually met. (d) Integrated longitudinal plan: The Surgeon General must create a connected, long-term plan for continuing education across health professions — from training through practice. This plan must stress patient-centered, team-based, and care-coordination skills, and must include experience deploying emergency response teams during clinical training. (e) Faculty development: The Surgeon General must create faculty development programs and course materials for decentralized care settings, balancing urban, tertiary (specialized hospital), and inpatient settings.