Vet HP Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2569 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. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL 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 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2569 IS 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 under 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 of Vet- 11 erans Affairs; and 12 (3) expand clinical observation opportunities for 13 all students by encouraging students of all back- 14 grounds to consider a career in the health profes- 15 sions. 16 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO- 17 GRAM FOR CLINICAL OBSERVATION BY UN- 18 DERGRADUATE STUDENTS. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 20 Affairs shall carry out a pilot program for a one-year pe- 21 riod, beginning not later than August 15, 2021, to provide 22 certain students described in subsection (d) a clinical ob- 23 servation experience at medical centers of the Department 24 of Veterans Affairs. 25 (b) MEDICAL CENTER SELECTION.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2569 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 1 out the pilot program under subsection (a) at not 2 fewer than five medical centers of the Department. 3 (2) REGIONAL DIVERSITY.—In selecting med- 4 ical centers under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 5 ensure regional diversity among such selected med- 6 ical centers. 7 (c) CLINICAL OBSERVATION SESSIONS.— 8 (1) FREQUENCY AND DURATION.—In carrying 9 out the pilot program under subsection (a), the Sec- 10 retary shall— 11 (A) provide at least one and not more than 12 three clinical observation sessions at each med- 13 ical center selected during each calendar year; 14 (B) ensure that each clinical observation 15 session— 16 (i) lasts between four and six months; 17 and 18 (ii) to the extent practicable, begins 19 and ends concurrently with one or more 20 academic terms of an institution of higher 21 education; and 22 (C) ensure that the clinical observation 23 sessions provided at a medical center have mini- 24 mal overlap. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2569 IS (2) SESSIONS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 1 the pilot program consists of clinical observation ses- 2 sions as follows: 3 (A) Each session shall allow for not fewer 4 than five students nor greater than 15 students 5 to participate in the session. 6 (B) Each session shall consist of not fewer 7 than 20 observational hours nor greater than 8 40 observational hours. 9 (C) A majority of the observational hours 10 shall be spent observing a health professional. 11 The other observational hours shall be spent in 12 a manner that ensures a robust, well-rounded 13 experience that exposes the students to a vari- 14 ety of aspects of medical care and health care 15 administration. 16 (D) Each session shall provide a diverse 17 clinical observation experience. 18 (d) STUDENTS.— 19 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select to 20 participate in the pilot program under subsection (a) 21 students who are— 22 (A) nationals of the United States (as de- 23 fined in section 101 of the Immigration and 24 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2569 IS (B) enrolled in an accredited program of 1 study at an institution of higher education; and 2 (C) referred by their institution of higher 3 education following an internal application proc- 4 ess. 5 (2) PRIORITY.—In selecting participants under 6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to 7 each of the following five categories of students: 8 (A) Students who, at the time of the com- 9 pletion of their secondary education, resided in 10 a health professional shortage area (as defined 11 in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act 12 (42 U.S.C. 254e)). 13 (B) First generation college students (as 14 defined in section 402A(h) of the Higher Edu- 15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11(h)). 16 (C) Students who have been referred by 17 minority-serving institutions. 18 (D) Veterans (as defined in section 101 of 19 title 38, United States Code). 20 (E) Students who indicate an intention to 21 specialize in a health professional occupation 22 identified by the Inspector General of the De- 23 partment of Veterans Affairs under section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2569 IS 7412 of title 38, United States Code, as having 1 a staffing shortage. 2 (3) ASSIGNMENT TO MEDICAL CENTERS.—The 3 Secretary shall assign students selected under para- 4 graph (1) to medical centers selected under sub- 5 section (b) without regard for whether such medical 6 centers have staffing shortages in any health profes- 7 sional occupation as determined pursuant to section 8 7412 of title 38, United States Code. 9 (e) OTHER MATTERS.—In carrying out the pilot pro- 10 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 11 (1) establish a formal status to facilitate the ac- 12 cess to medical centers of the Department by stu- 13 dent observers participating in the pilot program; 14 (2) establish standardized legal, privacy, and 15 ethical requirements for the student observers, in- 16 cluding with respect to— 17 (A) ensuring that no student observer pro- 18 vides any care to patients while participating as 19 an observer; and 20 (B) ensuring the suitability of a student to 21 participate in the pilot program to ensure that 22 the student poses no risk to patients; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2569 IS (3) develop and implement a partnership strat- 1 egy with minority-serving institutions to encourage 2 referrals; 3 (4) create standardized procedures for student 4 observers; 5 (5) create an online information page about the 6 pilot program on an internet website of the Depart- 7 ment; 8 (6) publish on the online information page cre- 9 ated under paragraph (5) the locations of such med- 10 ical centers and other information on the pilot pro- 11 gram not later than 180 days before the date on 12 which applications are required to be submitted by 13 potential student observers; 14 (7) identify medical centers and specific health 15 professionals participating in the pilot program; and 16 (8) notify the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 17 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 18 fairs of the House of Representatives of the medical 19 centers selected under subsection (c) within 30 days 20 of selection to facilitate program awareness. 21 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com- 22 pletion of the pilot program under subsection (a), the Sec- 23 retary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 24 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2569 IS the House of Representatives a report on the results of 1 the pilot program, including— 2 (1) the number and demographics of— 3 (A) all applicants to the pilot program; 4 (B) those accepted to participate in the 5 pilot program; and 6 (C) those who completed the pilot pro- 7 gram; and 8 (2) if participating institutions of higher edu- 9 cation choose to administer satisfaction surveys that 10 assess the experience of those who completed the 11 pilot program, the results of any such satisfaction 12 surveys, provided at the discretion of the institution 13 of higher education. 14 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given that term in section 101 of the High- 18 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 19 (2) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 20 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti- 21 tution described in section 371(a) of the Higher 22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:52 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2569 IS SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 1 No additional funds are authorized to be appro- 2 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such 3 requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 4 authorized to be appropriated. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 Oct 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2569.IS S2569 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS