Tennessee § 68-1-1607 - Community-based education and training programs for health professions students and medical residents.

§ 68-1-1607. Community-based education and training programs for health professions students and medical residents.

In order to effectuate § 68-1-1604(2), the AHEC programs of Meharry Medical College, East Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis, may maintain and enhance existing programs and develop new community-based education and training programs for health professions students and primary care medical residents in rural and urban underserved communities throughout Tennessee. The programs shall be made available to health professions students and primary care medical residents from all health professions training institutions within Tennessee. Students from non-Tennessee institutions may also participate in the training programs on an at-cost basis, based upon the availability of spaces; provided, that no student from a Tennessee institution shall be displaced from participation in the programs by the participation of an out-of-state student. To promote an increasing number of medical school graduates to enter the primary care specializations of family medicine, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics and to practice in rural and urban underserved communities of Tennessee, the three (3) institutions receiving funding from this part shall be required to place their medical students in a AHEC sponsored one-week preceptorship with a primary care physician during each student's freshman and sophomore years. Development of the AHEC preceptorship is contingent upon the appropriation of adequate resources to fund the preceptorship experiences. To ensure the health professions students and primary care medical residents receive quality training experiences in rural and urban underserved communities, the AHEC programs of Meharry Medical College, East Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis, shall recruit, train, and provide professional support for community-based faculty. To promote health professions students' and primary care medical residents' participation in community-based training experiences, the AHEC programs of Meharry Medical College, East Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis, may collaboratively develop and maintain a computerized database of clinical sites available within Tennessee for health professions students' and primary care medical residents' field experiences. All health professions training institutions within Tennessee shall be permitted access to the computerized listing of community-based field training sites. To promote health profession students' and primary care medical residents' interest in practicing in rural and urban underserved communities, individuals participating in field experiences shall be eligible for reimbursement for travel expenses and living expenses actually incurred as a result of their participation in field experiences. All reimbursements for travel expenses and living expenses shall be in accordance with the comprehensive state travel regulations promulgated by the commissioner of finance and administration. The AHEC programs at Meharry Medical College, East Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis, shall be responsible for administering all eligible health professions students' and primary care medical residents' field experiences funded by this part. In response to the changing health care systems in Tennessee and the nation that increasingly utilize multi-disciplinary team approaches to health care delivery, the AHEC programs of Meharry Medical College, East Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis, shall promote multi-disciplinary training of health professions students and medical residents in AHEC supported activities. Acts 1998, ch. 928, § 8.