Vet HP Act

II Calendar No. 31 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1271 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 6, 2019 Received; read the first time MARCH 7, 2019 Read the second time and placed on the calendar AN ACT To establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a pilot program instituting a clinical observation program for pre-med students preparing to attend medical school. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans-Specific Edu- 4 cation for Tomorrow’s Health Professionals Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘Vet HP Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1271 PCS SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEPARTMENT OF 1 VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PROGRAM FOR 2 CLINICAL OBSERVATION BY UNDER- 3 GRADUATE STUDENTS. 4 It is the sense of Congress that the pilot program 5 described in section 3(a) should be designed to— 6 (1) increase the awareness, knowledge, and em- 7 pathy of future health professionals toward the 8 health conditions common to veterans; 9 (2) increase the diversity of the recruitment 10 pool of future physicians of the Department; and 11 (3) expand clinical observation opportunities for 12 all students by encouraging students of all back- 13 grounds to consider a career in the health profes- 14 sions. 15 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO- 16 GRAM FOR CLINICAL OBSERVATION BY UN- 17 DERGRADUATE STUDENTS. 18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 19 Affairs shall carry out a pilot program for a one-year pe- 20 riod, beginning not later than August 15, 2021, to provide 21 certain students described in subsection (d) a clinical ob- 22 servation experience at medical centers of the Department 23 of Veterans Affairs. 24 (b) MEDICAL CENTER SELECTION.—The Secretary 25 shall carry out the pilot program under this section at not 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1271 PCS fewer than five medical centers of the Department. In se- 1 lecting such medical centers, the Secretary shall ensure 2 regional diversity among such selected medical centers. 3 (c) CLINICAL OBSERVATION SESSIONS.— 4 (1) FREQUENCY AND DURATION.—In carrying 5 out the pilot program, the Secretary shall— 6 (A) provide at least one and not more than 7 three clinical observation sessions at each med- 8 ical center selected during each calendar year; 9 (B) ensure that each clinical observation 10 session— 11 (i) lasts between four and six months; 12 and 13 (ii) to the extent practicable, begins 14 and ends concurrently with one or more 15 academic terms of an institution of higher 16 education (as defined in section 101 of the 17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 18 1001)); and 19 (C) ensure that the clinical observation 20 sessions provided at a medical center have mini- 21 mal overlap. 22 (2) SESSIONS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 23 the pilot program consists of clinical observation ses- 24 sions as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1271 PCS (A) Each session shall allow for not fewer 1 than five students nor greater than 15 students 2 to participate in the session. 3 (B) Each session shall consist of not fewer 4 than 20 observational hours nor greater than 5 40 observational hours. 6 (C) A majority of the observational hours 7 shall be spent observing a health professional. 8 The other observational hours shall be spent in 9 a manner that ensures a robust, well rounded 10 experience that exposes the students to a vari- 11 ety of aspects of medical care and health care 12 administration. 13 (D) Each session shall provide a diverse 14 clinical observation experience. 15 (d) STUDENTS.— 16 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select to 17 participate in the pilot program under subsection (a) 18 students who are— 19 (A) nationals of the United States; 20 (B) enrolled in an accredited program of 21 study at an institution of higher education; and 22 (C) referred by their institution of higher 23 education following an internal application proc- 24 ess. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1271 PCS (2) PRIORITY.—In making such selection, the 1 Secretary shall give priority to each of the following 2 five categories of students: 3 (A) Students who, at the time of the com- 4 pletion of their secondary education, resided in 5 a health professional shortage area (as defined 6 in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act 7 (42 U.S.C. 254e)). 8 (B) First generation college students (as 9 defined in section 402A(h)(3) of the Higher 10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 11 (C) Students who have been referred by 12 minority-serving institutions (as defined in sec- 13 tion 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a))). 15 (D) Veterans (as defined in section 101 of 16 title 38, United States Code). 17 (E) Students who indicate an intention to 18 specialize in a health professional occupation 19 identified by the Inspector General of the De- 20 partment under section 7412 of title 38, United 21 States Code, as having a staffing shortage. 22 (3) ASSIGNMENT TO MEDICAL CENTERS.—The 23 Secretary shall assign students selected under para- 24 graph (1) to medical centers selected under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1271 PCS section (b) without regard for whether such medical 1 centers have staffing shortages in any health profes- 2 sional occupation pursuant to section 7412 of title 3 38, United States Code. 4 (e) OTHER MATTERS.—In carrying out the pilot pro- 5 gram under this section, the Secretary shall— 6 (1) establish a formal status to facilitate the ac- 7 cess to medical centers of the Department by stu- 8 dent observers participating in the pilot program; 9 (2) establish standardized legal, privacy, and 10 ethical requirements for the student observers, in- 11 cluding with respect to— 12 (A) ensuring that no student observer pro- 13 vides any care to patients while participating as 14 an observer; and 15 (B) ensuring the suitability of a student to 16 participate in the pilot program to ensure that 17 the student poses no risk to patients; 18 (3) develop and implement a partnership strat- 19 egy with minority-serving institutions to encourage 20 referrals; 21 (4) create standardized procedures for student 22 observers; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1271 PCS (5) create an online information page about the 1 pilot program on the internet website of the Depart- 2 ment; 3 (6) publish on the online information page cre- 4 ated under paragraph (5) the locations of such cen- 5 ters, and other information on the pilot program, 6 not later than 180 days before the date on which ap- 7 plications are required to be submitted by potential 8 student observers; 9 (7) identify medical centers and specific health 10 professionals participating in the pilot program; and 11 (8) notify the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 12 of the House of Representatives and the Senate of 13 the medical centers selected under subsection (c) 14 within 30 days of selection, to facilitate program 15 awareness. 16 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com- 17 pletion of the pilot program under subsection (a), the Sec- 18 retary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 19 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report 20 on the results of the pilot program, including— 21 (1) the number and demographics of all appli- 22 cants, those accepted to participate in the pilot pro- 23 gram, and those who completed the pilot program; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1271 PCS (2) if participating institutions of higher edu- 1 cation choose to administer satisfaction surveys that 2 assess the experience of those who completed the 3 pilot program, the results of any such satisfaction 4 surveys, provided at the discretion of the institution 5 of higher education. 6 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 7 No additional funds are authorized to be appro- 8 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such 9 requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 10 authorized to be appropriated. 11 Passed the House of Representatives March 5, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 31 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1271 AN ACT To establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a pilot program instituting a clinical observation program for pre-med students preparing to at- tend medical school. MARCH 7, 2019 Read the second time and placed on the calendar VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H1271.PCS H1271 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS