20-3-513. Determination of loan and scholarship amounts by board; terms and conditions; repayment in services.

Students whose applications are approved shall receive a loan or scholarship in an amount to be determined by the board to defray the tuition and other expenses of the applicant in an accredited medical school in the United States which has received accreditation or provisional accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the Bureau of Professional Education of the American Osteopathic Association for a program in medical education designed to qualify the graduate for licensure by the Georgia Composite Medical Board. The loans and scholarships shall be paid in such manner as the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce shall determine and may be prorated so as to pay to the medical college or school to which any applicant is admitted such funds as are required by such college or school with the balance being paid directly to the applicant; all of which shall be under such terms and conditions as may be provided under rules and regulations of the board. The loans or scholarships to be granted to each applicant shall be based upon the condition that the full amount of the loans or scholarships shall be repaid to the State of Georgia in services to be rendered by the applicant by practicing his or her profession in an area of this state which is rural and underserved by primary care physicians as determined by the board, in a regional area of this state composed of rural counties where an unmet need for certain primary care and other critical need specialty physicians exists as determined by the board and approved by the commissioners of community health and public health, or at any hospital or facility operated by or under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Corrections, or the Department of Juvenile Justice. For each year of practicing his or her profession in such board approved location, the applicant shall receive credit for the amount of the scholarship received during any one year in medical school, with the interest due on such amount.