42 U.S.C. § 254h–1 — Facilitation of effective provision of Corps services

(a) Consideration of individual characteristics of members in making assignments: When the Secretary assigns a Corps member to an entity approved under section 254f, the Secretary must try to pick a member (and, if married, whose spouse) whose personal traits make it more likely they'll stay in that shortage area after their Corps service ends. This must still follow the assignment rules in section 254f–1. (b) Counseling on service in Corps: (1) The Secretary must offer proper counseling to Corps members throughout their membership, especially early in each assignment. (2) For people who signed Scholarship or Loan Repayment Program contracts, this counseling must also cover matters specific to their service obligation, and the Secretary must make career advisors available to them the whole time they're in the program. For Scholarship Program participants specifically, counseling must also happen while they're still in school, to help prepare them for Corps service. (3) For Scholarship or Loan Repayment participants, this counseling must continue throughout their whole obligated-service period (and, for Scholarship participants, through school too). For Corps members generally, it must happen "to the extent practicable" — as much as reasonably possible. (c) Grants regarding preparation of students for practice: For people with Scholarship or Loan Repayment Program contracts, the Secretary may give grants to, or contract with, public and nonprofit private groups (including health schools) to run programs that prepare these individuals to actually deliver primary health care in the shortage areas they'll be assigned to. (d) Professional development and training: (1) The Secretary must help Corps members build and keep professional relationships and development opportunities, including by (A) connecting the member with the local health professions community; (B) setting up professional development, training, and mentoring links to the wider health professions community — including distance learning, direct mentoring, and training modules for members working offsite; (C) building networks among Corps members; or (D) other development, mentoring, or training activities the Secretary chooses. (2) In doing this, the Secretary must focus on building relationships with hospitals, academic medical centers, health professions schools, area health education centers, and health education and training centers — including help getting faculty appointments at health schools. (3) These efforts must add to, not replace, what professional health societies already do on their own to build these relationships. (e) Temporary relief from Corps duties: (1) The Secretary must help Corps members arrange temporary relief from their duties — to pursue continuing education, join exchange programs with teaching centers, attend conferences, or pursue other interests, including vacations. (2)(A) This relief can only happen if another health professional takes over the member's duties — either another Corps member, or an outside health professional the Secretary approves. Any approved outside professional is treated as a Corps member (for liability protection under section 233, for section 254f(f), and for section 254h(e)) while covering those duties. (B) The Secretary must help form and maintain a standing group of health professionals available to provide this kind of coverage. (3) The Secretary must also (A) encourage non-Corps health professionals to sign up to temporarily cover Corps members' duties, and (B) encourage the entities that host Corps members to help set up these coverage arrangements. (4) Except as allowed under paragraph (5), the Secretary generally cannot spend money (beyond small incidental expenses) to pay a covering professional's compensation or to pay for a member's vacation or other personal interests during this relief time. (5) But if a Corps member is the only provider of health services in their area, the Secretary can use money appropriated under section 254k to cover whatever costs are necessary to give that member temporary relief. (f) Determinations regarding effective service: In carrying out subsection (a) and related provisions in sections 254l(d) and 254l–1(d), the Secretary must study and determine: (1) what traits make physicians, dentists, and other health professionals more likely to keep practicing in shortage areas after their Corps service ends; (2) what traits make shortage areas and hosting entities more likely to keep Corps members after their service ends; and (3) the right conditions for assigning and using certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants in shortage areas.