18 V.S.A. § 33

(a) The Department of Health, in collaboration with the Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC) at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), shall establish a Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. The purpose of the Program is to strengthen the primary care workforce pipeline and increase the number of new physicians practicing in Vermont to meet the health care needs of Vermonters, with a focus on rural areas and undersupplied medical specialties.

(b)(1) Scholarships shall be awarded to up to 10 students annually who commit to practicing in a medical specialty priority area, as set forth in subdivision (c)(2) of this section, in a region of Vermont other than Chittenden County, in a practice site that is not owned by an academic medical center and that accepts patients who are covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or other publicly funded health benefit programs.

(2) Students shall be eligible to participate in the Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program in their third and fourth year of medical school. A student who receives an incentive scholarship for the third year of medical school shall be eligible to receive another incentive scholarship for the fourth year of medical school.

(3) Each incentive scholarship award shall be for an amount not less than the in-state tuition rate for the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

(c)(1) For each academic year of incentive scholarship received, the recipient shall incur a full-time service obligation of not less than one year in a medical specialty priority area and in a setting that meets the requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this section.

(2) The medical specialty priority area shall be primary care; approved specialties include family medicine, internal medicine, adult primary care, pediatrics primary care, obstetrics-gynecology, and psychiatry.

(3) An incentive scholarship recipient who does not fulfill the service obligation commitment to practice in Vermont in accordance with the terms of the award shall be liable for repayment of the full amount of the scholarship, plus interest and penalty.

(d)(1) The Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program shall be administered in compliance with federal financial aid regulations and the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) Payments shall be made directly to the recipient's University of Vermont student financial services account.

(3) The full terms and conditions of the award shall be described in the award contract or promissory note and shall be binding once the contract or note is fully executed.

(4) AHEC and VSAC shall enter into a memorandum of understanding establishing their respective responsibilities for administering the Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program. The memorandum of understanding shall be subject to the approval of the Department of Health.

(e)(1) The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with AHEC and VSAC, may establish additional recipient eligibility criteria, selection criteria, award terms and conditions, and evidence-based best practices to meet the purposes of the Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program on an annual basis to best respond to Vermont's needs for physician workforce and access to health care.

(2) The Commissioner of Health may adopt rules in accordance with 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 in order to plan, implement, maintain, and evaluate the Medical Student Incentive Scholarship Program established in this section.

(f) Forgivable loans shall be awarded on a rolling basis, provided funds are available, and any funds remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall carry forward and shall be available to the Department of Health and the Corporation in the following fiscal year to award additional forgivable loans as set forth in this section.