Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-625.10a

Administration.

The Health Care Workforce Training Commission is hereby

authorized and empowered to establish and administer cost-sharing

scholarships and loan fund programs which shall provide for state

assistance to and participation with community physician education

and scholarship trust funds which are selected and approved by the

Commission. Said state assistance and participation shall be on a

state and community matching formula basis for the funding of the

educational costs, fees and charges of a selected and qualified

student in good standing and who is duly enrolled in an accredited

college of medicine or college of osteopathic medicine and pursuing

a course of study leading to the degree of Doctor of Medicine or to

the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Said student shall be

a bona fide resident of the State of Oklahoma who desires and agrees

to practice his profession on completion of the course of study and

training required for licensure and certification in the community

providing the initial funds to be matched by the state funds.

Communities shall deposit the initial trust funds with the Health

Care Workforce Training Commission to be administered and matched by

the Commission for the education of selected and qualified students

to serve and to practice in the communities with trust funds so

established for that purpose with the Commission. The Commission

shall aid and advise communities in the selection of qualified

students to participate in a given community scholarship program and

the Commission shall approve the selection of a given student for a

particular community physician education scholarship trust fund

matching program. The Commission shall determine the percentage

share for the state in the scholarship matching program with a given

community to educate a given and duly selected student on the basis

of the extent of need of the community and its surrounding area for

the services of a practicing physician, the amount of the initial

trust funds the community has raised and deposited in the physician

education scholarship trust fund that is duly established and the

matching funds schedule developed by the Commission and based upon

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 1054

both the population of the community determined by the latest

Federal Decennial Census and the estimated median family annual

income level as determined on the basis of the estimates of the

Oklahoma Department of Commerce. The state matching assistance and

participation in a given scholarship trust fund program shall not

exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the total amount calculated to

be necessary to fund the costs of a course of study for the degree

of Doctor of Medicine or the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic

Medicine as determined annually by the Commission. Repayment of the

total amount of the scholarship by the student on completion of the

student's course of study and on the establishment of the student's

practice in the community shall be made to the state fund and to the

community trust fund in accordance with the percentage and total

amounts contributed by the state and by the community to the

matching scholarship trust fund program and in accordance with the

provisions of Section 625.5 of this title and contract requirements

of Section 625.6 of this title which shall apply in all cases to

students participating in said community physician education

scholarship trust fund programs administered by the Commission with

the exception of the maximum amount allowable in payment to the

student which shall be based on an annual review of the costs, fees

and charges of the school of medicine or school of osteopathic

medicine in which the student is enrolled and participating which

shall be made by the Commission.

The procedures, terms and conditions governing the scholarships

and how they are administered shall be as prescribed and formulated
ount allowable in payment to the

student which shall be based on an annual review of the costs, fees

and charges of the school of medicine or school of osteopathic

medicine in which the student is enrolled and participating which

shall be made by the Commission.

The procedures, terms and conditions governing the scholarships

and how they are administered shall be as prescribed and formulated

by the Health Care Workforce Training Commission but shall include

the following:

1. Communities desiring to participate in a loan and

scholarship program shall select a student who meets the

requirements for participation and give notice to the Commission.

2. The Commission shall aid and advise communities in the

selection of qualified students to participate in a given community

loan and scholarship program.

3. The communities shall deposit with the Commission the

initial year scholarship funds provided by the community which funds

shall be a percentage of the total educational and associated costs

of the student in the course of study in an accredited college of

medicine or college of osteopathic medicine and which funds are to

be used in the education of the selected student.

4. The Commission shall review and approve the selection of a

given student and shall then match the initial community funds with

state funds from the Oklahoma Community Physician Education Loan and

Scholarship Program Fund in the amount needed to meet the total cost

for educating the student for one (1) year as agreed by the

Commission and the community in each particular case.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 1055

5. The Commission shall determine the percentage share for the

state in the loan and scholarship program with a given community to

educate a selected student on the basis of:

a. the extent of need of the community and its

surrounding area for the services of a practicing

physician,

b. the amount of the initial trust funds the community

has raised and deposited with the Commission for the

education of a selected student, and

c. the population of the community which shall be

determined on the basis of the current estimates made

by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

6. The state matching assistance and participation by the

Commission in a given loan and scholarship program for a particular

student shall not exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the total

amount calculated to be necessary to fund one (1) year of study for

the degree of Doctor of Medicine or the degree of Doctor of

Osteopathic Medicine as determined annually by the Commission at the

school of medicine or osteopathic medicine in which the selected

student is enrolled.

7. Each scholarship recipient, upon completion of the

recipient's course of study, shall repay the recipient's loan and

scholarship to the state and to the community and receive

forgiveness on repayment of the funds from the state and from the

community by practicing his or her profession in the community in

Oklahoma providing the initial funds at a minimum for one (1) year

for each Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) the community and the

state financed the scholarship program for the student; provided,

however, that the recipient will be given no credit for payment,

repayment and reduction of said obligation to the community and the

state by serving the given community for a period less than two (2)

years or, when approved by the Commission in agreement with the

community and terms of the contracts involved, repayment may be made

in cash with interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum,

said interest to accrue from the date each payment of funds pursuant

to the loan and scholarship program is made. In addition, should a

recipient who accepts financial assistance after July 1, 1977, elect

not to perform his obligated service in the sponsoring community,

the agreed upon sum denoted as liquidated damages in the contract
th interest at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum,

said interest to accrue from the date each payment of funds pursuant

to the loan and scholarship program is made. In addition, should a

recipient who accepts financial assistance after July 1, 1977, elect

not to perform his obligated service in the sponsoring community,

the agreed upon sum denoted as liquidated damages in the contract

shall be assessed the recipient. No interest shall accrue on the

principal during any one period of time that the recipient thereof

is required to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States, or

during his internship or residency, if in a primary care area and

the required service, internship or residency does not exceed four

(4) years. Provided that no interest shall accrue for six (6)

months following each of the above exceptions.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 70. Schools Page 1056

Each student who applies to participate in a community and state

matching loan and scholarship program shall enter into a contract

administered by the Commission on behalf of the state and a given

community which has provided the initial scholarship funds to

educate a selected student. The contract shall be between the State

of Oklahoma and the selected student by which contract the student

agrees to return to the community which provided the initial loan

and scholarship funds and to practice his profession, on completion

of the course of study and training required for licensure and

certification, for the number of years for which the student

received assistance from the community and the state and in

accordance with the conditions specified in the contract agreed to

by the student and the given community which selected the student.

Any repayment of the total amount of the scholarship or any portion

thereof as provided in this act and in the contract between the

state and the student shall be made to the state deposited into the

Community Matching Loan and Scholarship Repayment Revolving Fund

hereby created in the State Treasury. The community portion of any

repayment monies deposited in said fund shall be withdrawn from the

revolving fund and returned to the community on request or, if the

community so chooses, said repayment monies shall be held available

in said fund for reallocation by the community and the state to the

Community Physician Education Loan and Scholarship Program Fund to

educate another student selected by the community and approved by

the Commission. The form of the contracts shall be prepared and

approved by the Attorney General. The Commission is hereby vested

with full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name

any applicant for any balance due the Commission for repayment of

the scholarship on any contract or for failure by the applicant to

fulfill the terms of his contract in any way. Said contracts shall

be signed by the Chair of the Commission and by the student for and

by a representative of the community which selected the student.

The Commission shall have authority to cancel the contract it makes

between the Commission and any recipient of a scholarship upon cause

deemed sufficient by the Commission.