[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-30442]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: December 13, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Program Announcement and Proposed Minimum Percentages for ``High
Rate'' and ``Significant Increase in the Rate'' for Implementation of
the General Statutory Funding Preference for Grants for Podiatric
Primary Care Residency Training Programs
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces
that applications will be accepted for fiscal year (FY) 1995 Grants for
Podiatric Primary Care Residency Training Programs under the authority
of section 751, title VII of the Public Health Service Act, as amended
by the Health Professions Education Extension Amendments of 1992, Pub.
L. 102-408, dated October 13, 1992. Comments are invited on the
proposed minimum percentages for ``high rate'' and ``significant
increase in the rate'' for the implementation of the general statutory
funding preference.
Approximately $600,000 will be available in FY 1995 for this
program. It is anticipated that the $600,000 will support approximately
7 competing awards averaging $86,000.
Purpose
Section 751 authorizes the award of grants for the purpose of
planning and implementing projects in primary care training for
podiatric physicians in approved or provisionally approved residency
programs which shall provide financial assistance in the form of
traineeships to residents who participate in such projects and who plan
to specialize in primary care.
Eligibility
Eligible entities for this program are schools of podiatric
medicine and public and nonprofit private hospitals. As noted above,
the authorizing legislation limits eligibility to residency programs
that are approved or provisionally approved. The Council on Podiatric
Medical Education (CPME), the recognized accrediting body for podiatric
medicine, uses the term ``candidate status'' in lieu of ``provisional
approval.'' For the purposes of this program ``candidate status'' will
be accepted as meeting the statutory requirement for ``provisional
approval.''
Applicants to this program that are planning to initiate a new
podiatric primary care residency program are expected to apply to CPME
for candidate status. Grants will only be awarded to applicants that
can demonstrate the attainment of candidate status by July 1, 1995. The
application for Federal funding must demonstrate, through responses to
the program specifications, that an adequate emphasis will be placed on
podiatric primary care.
The period of Federal support should not exceed 3 years.
National Health Objectives for the Year 2000
The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the
health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People
2000, a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. The
Podiatric Primary Care Residency Training Program is related to the
priority area of Educational and Community-Based Programs. Potential
applicants may obtain a copy of Healthy People 2000 (Full Report; Stock
No. 017-001-00474-0) or Healthy People 2000 (Summary Report; Stock No.
017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402-9325 (Telephone 202-783-3238).
Education and Service Linkage
As part of its long-range planning, HRSA will be targeting its
efforts to strengthening linkages between U.S. Public Health Service
education programs and programs which provide comprehensive primary
care services to the underserved.
Smoke-Free Workplace
The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant recipients
to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all
tobacco products. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect
and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.
The following project requirements and review criteria were
established in FY 1989, after public comment and are being extended by
the Administration in FY 1995.
Project Requirements
Each project must have:
a. A project director who is employed by the grantee institution
and has completed at least one year of podiatric residency training and
has at least one year of clinical teaching experience; or is board
certified in a recognized specialty area in podiatric medicine and has
at least 5 years of clinical teaching experience;
b. An appropriate administrative and organizational plan and
appropriate faculty, staff and facility resources for the achievement
of stated objectives;
c. A systematic evaluation of the educational program, including
the performance and competence of trainees and faculty, the
administration of the program, and the degree to which program and
educational objectives are met;
d. Use of ambulatory care settings where podiatric primary care is
practiced and where an adequate portion of the clinical training is
conducted;
e. A curriculum which:
1. Is appropriate for the academic level of the trainees and the
specific length and nature of the educational program;
2. Supplements any practical (including clinical) experiences with
related educational activities; and
3. Includes: A minimum of 20 percent of curriculum time devoted to
supervised instruction in ambulatory clinical settings; instruction in
behavioral sciences and the development of psychosocial skills and
topics; and a supervised clinical experience in a family medicine or
general internal medicine ambulatory care setting;
f. A sufficient number of residents to assure an adequate collegial
environment for the educational program and to enhance cost-efficiency;
g. An adequate number of qualified faculty with training and
experience in podiatric medicine, and behavioral sciences and liaison
faculty in related program areas for the number of residents in the
program. The faculty in the program must be engaged in periodic faculty
development activities to improve their teaching skills;
h. Adequate facilities for the conduct of the educational
activities and, in particular, have ambulatory care space sufficient to
provide an adequate clinical experience for the residents; and
i. A sufficient number of patients with a variety of health care
needs to provide the resident with a broad clinical experience.
Review Criteria
The HRSA will review applications based on an analysis of the
following factors:
(1) The degree to which the proposed project provides for the
project requirements;
(2) The administrative and management capability of the applicant
to carry out the proposed project in a cost effective manner;
(3) The degree to which the proposed training program emphasizes
training in podiatric primary care settings; and
(4) The potential of the project to continue on a self sustaining
basis.
Other Considerations
In addition, the following funding factors may be applied in
determining funding of approved applications.
A funding preference is defined as the funding of a specific
category or group of approved applications ahead of other categories or
groups of approved applications.
It is not required that applicants request consideration for a
funding factor. Applications which do not request consideration for
funding factors will be reviewed and given full consideration for
funding.
General Statutory Funding Preference
As provided in section 791(a) of the PHS Act, preference will be
given to qualified applicants that:
(1) have a high rate for placing graduates in practice settings
having the principal focus of serving residents of medically
underserved communities; or
(2) have achieved, during the 2-year period preceding the fiscal
year for which an award is sought, a significant increase in the rate
of placing graduates in such settings.
This preference will only be applied to applications that rank
above the 20th percentile of proposals recommended for approval by the
peer review group.
``High rate'' is defined as a minimum of 25 percent of the combined
Podiatric Primary Care Residency graduates in academic years 1991-92,
1992-93 and 1993-94, who spend at least 50 percent of their worktime in
clinical practice in medically underserved communities.
``Significant increase in the rate'' means that, between academic
years 1992-93 and 1993-94, the rate of placing graduates in medically
underserved communities has increased by at least 50 percent and that
not less than 15 percent of graduates from the most recent year are
working in medically underserved communities.
Additional information concerning the implementation of this
preference has been published in the Federal Register at 59 FR 15743,
dated April 4, 1994.
Program Specific Statutory Funding Preference
Under section 751(b) of title VII, preference will be given to
qualified applicants that ``provide clinical training in podiatric
medicine in a variety of medically underserved communities.''
Information Requirements Provision
Under section 791(b) of the Act, the Secretary may make an award
under the Grants for Podiatric Primary Care Residency Training Programs
only if the applicant for the award submits to the Secretary the
following information:
1. A description of rotations of preceptorships for students, or
clinical training programs for residents, that have the principal focus
of providing health care to medically underserved communities.
2. The number of faculty on admissions committees who have a
clinical practice in community-based ambulatory settings in medically
underserved communities.
3. With respect to individuals who are from disadvantaged
backgrounds or from medically underserved communities, the number of
such individuals who are recruited for academic programs of the
applicant, the number of such individuals who are admitted to such
programs, and the number of such individuals who graduate from such
programs.
4. If applicable, the number of recent graduates who have chosen
careers in primary health care.
5. The number of recent graduates whose practices are serving
medically underserved communities.
6. A description of whether and to what extent the applicant is
able to operate without Federal assistance under this title. Additional
details concerning the implementation of this information requirement
have been published in the Federal Register at 58 FR 43642, dated
August 17, 1993, and will be provided in the application materials.
Additional Information
Interested persons are invited to comment on the proposed minimum
percentages for ``high rate'' and ``significant increase in the rate''
for implementation of the general statutory funding preference. The
comment period is 30 days. All comments received on or before January
12, 1995, will be considered before the final minimum percentages for
``high rate'' and ``significant increase in the rate'' for
implementation of the general statutory funding preference are
established. Written comments should be addressed to: Marc L. Rivo,
M.D., M.P.H., Director, Division of Medicine, Bureau of Health
Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn
Building, Room 9A-05, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.
All comments received will be available for public inspection and
copying at the Division of Medicine, Bureau of Health Professions, at
the above address, weekdays, (Federal holidays excepted), between the
hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Requests for application materials, questions regarding grants
policy and business management aspects should be directed to: Ms. Judy
Bowen (D31), Grants Management Specialist, Residency and Advanced
Grants Section, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 8C-26, 5600 Fishers
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone (301) 443-6960, FAX (301)
443-6343.
Completed applications should be returned to the Grants Management
Officer at the above address.
If additional programmatic information is needed, please contact:
Ms. Helen Lotsikas, Division of Medicine, Bureau of Health Professions,
Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room
9A-27, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone (301)
443-1467, FAX (301) 443-8890.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The standard application form PHS 6025-1, HRSA Competing Training
Grant Application, General Instructions and supplement for this program
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the
Paperwork Reduction Act. The OMB Clearance Number is 0915-0060.
The deadline date for receipt of applications is February 17, 1995.
Applications will be considered to be ``on time'' if they are either:
(1) Received on or before the established deadline date, or
(2) Sent on or before the established deadline date and received in
time for orderly processing. (Applicants should request a legibly dated
U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated receipt from a
commercial carrier or U.S. Postal Service. Private metered postmarks
shall not be acceptable as proof of timely mailing.)
Late applications not accepted for processing will be returned to
the applicant.
This program, Grants for Podiatric Primary Care Residency Training
Programs, is listed at 93.181 in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance. It is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs (as implemented
through 45 CFR part 100). This program is not subject to the Public
Health System Reporting Requirements.
Dated: December 6, 1994.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-30442 Filed 12-12-94; 8:45 am]
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