[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4423-4425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1554]



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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 Residency 
Training in Preventive Medicine for Fiscal Year 1995

    The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces 
that applications will be accepted for fiscal year (FY) 1995 Grants for 
Residency Training in Preventive Medicine under the authority of 
section 763, 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 implementation of the general statutory funding preference.
    Approximately $1,700,000 will be available in FY 1995 for this 
program. It is anticipated that the $1,700,000 will be available to 
support approximately 12 competing awards averaging $135,000.

Purpose

    Section 763 of the Public Health Service Act authorizes the 
Secretary to make grants to meet the costs of projects--
    (1) to plan and develop new residency training programs and to 
maintain or improve existing residency training programs in preventive 
medicine and dental public health; and
    (2) to provide financial assistance to residency trainees enrolled 
in such programs.
    This program announcement is limited to residency training programs 
in preventive medicine.
    The period of Federal support will not exceed 3 years.

Eligibility

    To be eligible for a Grant for Residency Training in Preventive 
Medicine, the applicant must be an accredited public or private 
nonprofit school of allopathic or osteopathic medicine or a school of 
public health located in a State. Also, an applicant must demonstrate 
that it has, or will have by the end of 1 year of grant support, full-
time faculty with training and experience in the fields of preventive 
medicine and support from other faculty members trained in public 
health and other relevant specialties and disciplines. To receive 
support, programs must meet the requirements of regulations as set 
forth in 42 CFR part 57, subpart EE.

Project Requirements

    A project supported by this grant program must be conducted in 
accordance with the following requirements:
    (a) Each project must have a project director who works at the 
grantee institution on an appointment consistent with other major 
departments, heads or will head the unit, and has relevant training and 
experience in preventive medicine.
    (b) Each project must have an appropriate administrative and 
organizational plan and appropriate staff and facility resources for 
the achievement of stated objectives.
    (c) Each project must systematically evaluate 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) All field experiences must be supervised by a qualified faculty 
member.
    (e) All applicants must either demonstrate an increase in minority 
and disadvantaged residents or show evidence of efforts to recruit 
minority and disadvantaged residents.

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. This 
program is related to the priority area of Health Promotion and 
Preventive Services. 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.

Review Criteria

    The review of applications will take into consideration the 
following criteria:
    1. The potential effectiveness of the proposed project in carrying 
out the training purposes of section 763 of the PHS Act.
    2. The extent of responsiveness to the project requirements.
    3. The administrative and management capability of the applicant 
[[Page 4424]] to carry out the proposed project in a cost-effective 
manner.
    5. The degree to which the applicant demonstrates institutional 
commitment to the proposed program.
    6. The history of the program including number of residents who 
successfully completed the program.

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.
    A funding priority is defined as the favorable adjustment of 
aggregate review scores of individual approved applications when 
applications meet specified criteria.
    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.

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.

Proposed Minimum Percentages for ``High Rate'' and ``Significant 
Increase in the Rate''

    ``High rate'' is defined as a minimum of 25 percent of graduates in 
academic year 1992-93 or academic year 1993-94, whichever is greater, 
who spend at least 50 percent of their worktime in clinical practice in 
the specified settings. Graduates who are providing care in a medically 
underserved community as a part of a fellowship or other educational 
experience can be counted.
    ``Significant increase in the rate'' means that, between academic 
years 1992-93 and 1993-94, the rate of placing graduates in the 
specified settings has increased by a minimum of 50 percent and that 
not less than 15 percent of graduates from the most recent years are 
working in these settings.
    Additional information concerning the implementation of this 
preference has been published in the Federal Register at 59 FR 15743, 
dated April 4, 1994.

Established Funding Priorities

    The following funding priorities were established, after public 
comment (53 FR 46506, dated November 17, 1988 and 56 FR 46798, dated 
September 16, 1991), and are being extended in FY 1995. In the funding 
of approved applications, a funding priority will be given to projects 
which will:
    1. Conduct residency training in areas of general preventive 
medicine or public health.
    2. Enroll at least four residents in the academic year and at least 
four residents in the field year with evidence provided that the 
projected number can be realized from a current or projected applicant 
pool.
    3. Propose to provide educational experiences to demonstrate to 
residents the provision of primary care/preventive services for 
underserved populations.

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 February 
22, 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: Neil Sampson, 
Director, Division of Associated, Dental, and Public Health 
Professions, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and 
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 8-101, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.
    All comments received will be available for public inspection and 
copying at the Division of Associated, Dental, and Public Health 
Professions, 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.

Information Requirements Provision

    Under section 791(b) of the Act, the Secretary may make an award 
under the Grants for Residency Training in Preventive Medicine only if 
the applicant for the award submits to the Secretary the following 
information:
    1. A description of rotations or 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.

Application Requests

    Requests for application materials and questions regarding grants 
policy and business management issues should be directed to: Ms. Brenda 
Selser, Grants Management Branch, 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 
Branch at the above address.
    If additional programmatic information is needed, please contact: 
D. W. Chen, M.D., M.P.H., Division of Associated, Dental, and Public 
Health Professions, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and 
Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 8C-09, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Telephone: (301) 443-6896, FAX: (301) 
443-1164.
    The deadline date for receipt of applications is March 10, 1995. 
Applications will be considered to be ``on time'' if they are either:
    (1) Received on or before the established deadline date, or 
[[Page 4425]] 
    (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.

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.
    This program, Grants for Residency Training in Preventive Medicine, 
is listed at 93.117 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: January 17, 1995.
Ciro V. Sumaya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-1554 Filed 1-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-P