[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]
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