(a) Preferences in making awards

(1) In general

Subject to paragraph (2), in making awards of grants or contracts under any of sections 293k and 294 of this title, the Secretary shall give preference to any qualified applicant that—

(A) has a high rate for placing graduates in practice settings having the principal focus of serving residents of medically underserved communities;

(B) during the 2-year period preceding the fiscal year for which such an award is sought, has achieved a significant increase in the rate of placing graduates in such settings; or

(C) utilizes a longitudinal evaluation (as described in section 294n(d)(2) of this title) and reports data from such system to the national workforce database (as established under section 294n(b)(2)(E) of this title).

(2) Limitation regarding peer review

For purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary may not give an applicant preference if the proposal of the applicant is ranked at or below the 20th percentile of proposals that have been recommended for approval by peer review groups.

(b) “Graduate” defined

For purposes of this section, the term “graduate” means, unless otherwise specified, an individual who has successfully completed all training and residency requirements necessary for full certification in the health profession selected by the individual.

(c) Exceptions for new programs

(1) In general

To permit new programs to compete equitably for funding under this section, those new programs that meet at least 4 of the criteria described in paragraph (3) shall qualify for a funding preference under this section.

(2) Definition

As used in this subsection, the term “new program” means any program that has graduated less than three classes. Upon graduating at least three classes, a program shall have the capability to provide the information necessary to qualify the program for the general funding preferences described in subsection (a).

(3) Criteria

The criteria referred to in paragraph (1) are the following:

(A) The mission statement of the program identifies a specific purpose of the program as being the preparation of health professionals to serve underserved populations.

(B) The curriculum of the program includes content which will help to prepare practitioners to serve underserved populations.

(C) Substantial clinical training experience is required under the program in medically underserved communities.

(D) A minimum of 20 percent of the clinical faculty of the program spend at least 50 percent of their time providing or supervising care in medically underserved communities.

(E) The entire program or a substantial portion of the program is physically located in a medically underserved community.

(F) Student assistance, which is linked to service in medically underserved communities following graduation, is available to the students in the program.

(G) The program provides a placement mechanism for deploying graduates to medically underserved communities.