37-143-5 - Medical loan or scholarship program.
§ 37-143-5. Medical loan or scholarship program.
(1) There is hereby created the medical loan or scholarship program. The purpose of such program shall be to enable eligible applicants who desire to become physicians to obtain a medical education in the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, which will qualify them to become licensed, practicing physicians and surgeons.
(2) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall establish, by rule and regulation, the maximum annual award which may be made under this program at an amount not to exceed the cost of tuition and other expenses, and shall establish the maximum number of awards which may be made not to exceed the length of time required to complete the degree requirements and internship or residency.
(3) Loans made to applicants under this program may be made under similar terms and conditions as then current provisions of the Federal Guaranteed Student Loan Program, or its successor, as to the repayment of principal and interest. Such loans shall be eligible for deferment during attendance as a full-time student in an approved course of training. No interest shall accrue on such loan during the time the recipient is in such attendance. Such loans may be eligible for other deferments for such other causes as may be established by the board by rule and regulations not inconsistent with the foregoing.
(4) Loans made to applicants shall be made and based upon the following options for repayment or conversion to interest-free scholarships:
(a) Payment in full of principal and interest must be made in sixty (60) or less equal monthly installments, commencing one (1) month after graduation and internship or residency, or termination of attendance as a full-time student;
(b) In lieu of payment in full of both principal and interest, a loan recipient may elect to repay by entry into public health work at a state health institution as defined in Section 37-143-13(2), or community health centers that are grantees under Section 330 of the United States Public Health Service Act. Repayment under this option shall convert loan to scholarship, and discharge the same, on the basis of one (1) year's service for one (1) year's loan amount, or the appropriate proportion of the total outstanding balance of principal and interest, all as shall be established by rule and regulation of the board of trustees. If at any time prior to the repayment in full of the total obligation the recipient abandons or abrogates repayment by this option, the provisions of Section 37-143-5(d) shall apply;
(c) In lieu of payment in full of both principal and interest, a loan recipient may elect to repay by entry into the practice of medicine in a primary health care field in an area outside of a metropolitan statistical area, as defined and established by the United States Census Bureau, and within a region ranking between 1 and 54, inclusively, on the Relative Needs Index of Five Factors for Primary Care Physicians, as annually determined by the State Board of Health, for a period of five (5) years. Repayment under this option shall convert loan to scholarship, and discharge the same on the basis of one (1) year's service for one (1) year's loan amount, or the appropriate proportion of the total outstanding balance of principal and interest, all as shall be established by rule and regulation of the board of trustees. If at any time prior to the repayment in full of the total obligation the recipient abandons or abrogates repayment by this option, the provisions of Section 37-143-5(4)(d) shall apply;
(d) In the event of abandonment or abrogation of the options for repayment as provided for in Section 37-143-5(4)(b) and (c), the remaining balance of unpaid or undischarged principal and interest shall become due and payable over the remaining period of time as if the option provided for in Section 37-143-5(4)(a) had been elected upon graduation and internship or residency.
(5) The board of trustees shall establish such rules and regulations as it deems necessary and proper to carry out the purposes and intent of this section.
Sources: Laws, 1991, ch. 547, § 3, eff from and after July 1, 1991.