SECTION VIII.  Sample Contract

Do not print this and submit this contract. Use the contract in the Forms Package downloaded from the on-line application.

HRSA-857 (Rev. (05/08) (FRONT)

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM CONTRACT SCHOOL YEAR 2008-2009

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PUBLIC HEATLH SERVICE HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES ADMINISTRATION BUREAU CLINICAL RECRUITMENT AND SERVICE

Section 338A, C-H of the Public Health Service Act ("Act") (42 U.S.C. 2541, m-q), as amended by Public Law 107-251 on October 26, 2002, authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services ("Secretary") to provide applicants selected to be participants in the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program ("Scholarship Program") with scholarship awards. In return for the awards, applicants must agree to provide primary health services in a manner determined by the Secretary for a period of obligated service equal to one year for each year of scholarship support received, or two years, whichever is greater. Section 338A of the Act requires applicants to submit with their application a signed contract stating the terms and conditions of participation in the Scholarship Program. The Secretary shall sign only those contracts submitted by applicants who are selected for participation. The terms and conditions of participating in the Scholarship Program for the 2008 - 2009 school year are set forth below.

Section A - Obligations of the Secretary
Subject to the availability of funds appropriated by the Congress of the United States for the Scholarship Program and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), the Secretary agrees to:

1. Provide the undersigned applicant ("applicant") with a scholarship award for the school year 2008 - 2009 during which the applicant:
   a.  is enrolled, or is accepted for enrollment, as a full-time student in a fully accredited (as determined by the Secretary) educational institution in one of the States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and b.  is pursuing a course of study leading to a degree in medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, or other health profession which has been approved by the Secretary for participation in the Scholarship Program.

   The scholarship award may consist of payments, in whole or in part, for tuition, an amount for all other reasonable educational expenses incurred by the student, and stipend support for the 12-month period beginning with the first month of each school year in which the applicant is a participant in the Scholarship Program. The disbursement of these scholarship payments may be delayed by the Secretary pending receipt of verification, satisfactory to the Secretary, of the applicant's continued eligibility for scholarship support. Scholarship support is limited to a maximum of 4 school years.
   
   

2. Utilize the applicant to provide primary health services in accordance with Section B(6) of this contract.
   
   
3. Defer performance of an applicant's period of obligated service if the applicant requests a period of deferment to complete a residency or other advanced training which the Secretary determines is consistent with the needs of the Corps for primary health services.
   
   
4. Release the applicant from all or part of his or her Corps service obligation to enter into the full-time private clinical practice as a provider of primary health services where the provisions of Section 338D of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 254n, and applicable Corps policies are met.

1. Accept the scholarship award provided by the Secretary under Section A(1) of this contract for the school year 2008 - 2009.
   
   
2. Maintain enrollment as a full-time student until completion of the course of study for which the scholarship award is provided.  If the course of study (approved by the Secretary) exceeds 4 years, the individual will be considered a full-time student for only the last 4 years of the course of study.
   
   
3. Notify the Scholarship Program promptly in writing as soon as one of the following events is anticipated: repeat course work; delay in the applicant's graduation date (e.g., due to a leave of absence approved by the school, a decrease in credit hours in an academic term, switching to an alternate program, etc.); and a withdrawal or dismissal from school.
   
   
4. Maintain an acceptable level of academic standing while enrolled in the course of study for which the scholarship award is provided.
   
   
5. Complete a residency in a specialty that has been determined by the Secretary to be consistent with the needs of the Corps, if he or she received a degree from a school of medicine or osteopathy.
   
   
6. Serve his or her period of obligated service by providing primary health services, as determined by the Secretary: 
   a.  In the full-time clinical practice of his/her profession in a health professional shortage area ("HPSA") designated under Section 332 of the Act to which he or she is assigned by the Secretary as a member of the Corps, either as commissioned officer in the Regular or Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service, a civilian employee of the United States, or an individual who is not an employee of the United States;
   b.  In the full-time private clinical practice of his or her health profession under a Private Practice Option Agreement (Section 338D of the Act) in a HPSA selected by the Secretary.
   c.  In a unit of the Department of Health and Human Services determined by the Secretary as a full-time health professional, if the Secretary determines there is no need in a HPSA for a Corps member of the profession in which the applicant is obligated to provide health services under the contract and if such individual is a commissioned officer of the Public Health Service or a civilian employee of the United States.
   
   
7. Serve one year of obligated service for each school year the scholarship award is provided, with a minimum obligation of 2 years.
   
   
8. Undertake service in accord with placement policies and procedures in effect at the time of his or her placement.
   
   
9. Comply with provisions of Title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 62, Subpart A.
   
   
10. Comply with Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 180, Subpart C (2006), as supplemented by Subpart C of Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 376 (2007).
    
    
11. Permit the Department of Health and Human Services to collect any debt owed by the applicant, as a result of an overpayment of scholarship award payments, through the administrative offset of subsequent scholarship award payments to the applicant under this Contract, or an Extension Contract, until the debt is paid in full. An overpayment of scholarship award payments occurs when scholarship award payments are made: 
    a.  for repeat coursework, b.  during any period when the applicant is on an approved leave of absence from the school, is repeating course work that will delay the applicant's graduation date, or is enrolled as a less than a full-time student (see Section B(2) of this Contract), or  c.  due to administrative error.

1. If the applicant: 
   a.  fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing in the course of study for which the scholarship award is provided, b.  voluntarily terminates academic training before the completion of such training, or c.  is dismissed from the educational institution for disciplinary reasons, then the applicant shall, instead of performing the service obligation, repay to the United States all funds paid to the applicant and to the educational institution under this contract. Payment of this amount must be made within 3 years of the date the applicant becomes liable to make payment under this paragraph.
   
   
2. If the applicant, fails to begin or complete the period of obligated service incurred under this contract for any reason other than those in paragraph 1 of this section, or fails to complete a required residency as set forth in Section B(5) of this contract, the United States shall be entitled to recover an amount equal to three times the scholarship funds awarded, plus interest, as determined by the formula: A=3 Ø (t - s)  In which: `A' is the amount the United States is entitled to recover, 'Ø' is the sum of amounts paid to or on behalf of the applicant and the interest on such amounts which would be payable if at the time the amounts were paid they were loans bearing interest at the maximum legal prevailing rate, as determined by the Treasurer of the United States, `t' is the total number of months in the applicant's period of obligated service, and `s' is the number of months of such period served by the applicant in accordance with Section 338C of the Act or with a written agreement under Section 338D of the Act.

   The damages the United States is entitled to recover shall be paid within one year of the date the Secretary determines that the applicant has failed to begin or complete the period of obligated service.

1. No period of residency or other advanced training will be counted toward satisfying the period of obligated service incurred under this contract.

1. Any service or payment obligation incurred by the applicant under this contract will be canceled upon the applicant's death.
   
   
2. The Secretary may waive or suspend the applicant's service or payment obligation incurred under this contract if:
   a.  compliance by the applicant with the obligation is impossible or b.  compliance would involve extreme hardship and enforcement of such obligation would be unconscionable.

1. The applicant may request an annual extension of this contract, if the request is submitted in accordance with procedures established by the Secretary.
   
   
2. Subject to the availability of funds appropriated by the Congress of the United States for the Scholarship Program and the Corps, the Secretary may approve a request for contract extension if: 
   a.  the request does not extend the total period of scholarship award beyond 4 school years; and
   b.  the applicant is otherwise eligible for continued participation in the Scholarship Program.

1. The Secretary may terminate this contract with the applicant if, not later than 30 days before the end of the school year to which the contract pertains (i.e., by June 1 of that school year), the applicant: 
   a.  submits a written request for such termination and
   b.  repays all amounts paid to, or on behalf of, the applicant under the contract for that school year.