2013 Texas Statutes
VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES
TITLE 71 - HEALTH--PUBLIC
CHAPTER 6 - MEDICINE

VERNON'S CIVIL STATUTES

TITLE 71. HEALTH--PUBLIC

CHAPTER 6. MEDICINE

Art. 4498c. STATE RURAL MEDICAL EDUCATION BOARD.

Creation

Sec. 1. There is hereby established and created the State Medical Education Board, which shall have the general powers and duties authorized and imposed by the provisions of this Act. The State Medical Education Board is administratively attached to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The coordinating board shall provide the staff necessary for the State Medical Education Board to perform its duties. The State Medical Education Board shall adopt rules to carry out this Act.

Sec. 1a. Repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 4.01(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Citation of act

Sec. 1b. This Act may be cited as the State Medical Education Act.

"Board" defined

Sec. 1c. In this Act, "Board" means the State Medical Education Board.

Board duties

Sec. 1d. The duties of the State Medical Education Board are to carry out the administration and collection of loans already made under this Act.

Members; appointment; qualifications; terms of office; vacancies; oath of office; commission

Sec. 2. The Board shall consist of six members, who shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall have the following qualifications: Three of the members shall be legally qualified practicing physicians, who shall have had not less than five years experience in the actual practice of medicine within the State of Texas in rural areas as defined by this Act, of good professional standing and graduates of recognized medical colleges; three of whose members shall consist of citizens of this State who have maintained residence for a period of not less than five years in a rural area as defined by this Act.

The terms of office of members of the Board shall be for six years. Any vacancy in an unexpired term shall be filled by appointment of the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for the unexpired term. The members of the Board shall qualify by taking a Constitutional Oath of office before an officer authorized to administer oaths with this State, and, upon presentation of such oath of office, together with a certificate of their appointment, the Secretary of State shall issue commissions to them.

Secs. 3 to 6. Repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 4.01(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amount and proportioning of loans, grants and scholarships; repayment; credit for rural practice; default

Sec. 7. Applicants who are granted loans, grants or scholarships by the Board shall receive an amount which may defray his or her tuition and other expenses in any reputable, accepted and accredited medical school or medical college or school listed by the World Health Organization, or a scholarship to any such medical college or school for a term not exceeding four (4) years, same to be paid at such time and in such manner as may be determined by the Board. The loans, grants and scholarships herein provided may be proportioned in any such manner as to pay to the medical school to which any applicant is admitted such funds as are required by that school, and the balance to be paid directly to the applicant; all of which shall be under such terms and conditions as may be provided under rules and regulations of the Board. The said loans, grants, or scholarships shall be based upon the condition that the full amount thereof shall be repaid to the State of Texas in cash in full with ten (10) percent interest from the date of each payment by the State on such loan, grant or scholarship or by satisfaction of other conditions of the Board or this Act. If the applicant practices his profession in a rural area as defined by this Act the Board is authorized and shall credit one-fifth of the loan, grant or scholarship together with interest thereon to the applicant for each year of such practice as certified by the Board. At the end of the second full year of practice in a rural area as provided for herein, the applicant shall be privileged to pay off the balance of the loan, grant or scholarship as the case may be with accrued interest thereon, and upon such payment shall be relieved from further obligation under his contract. Should the applicant default under his contract at any time the full principal and accrued interest plus a penalty of 100 percent of the outstanding balance plus attorneys' fees as defined by said contract shall be due and owing to the State.

Sec. 7A. Repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 4.01(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Contract of Applicant; Terms and Conditions; Form; Signature; Removal of Disabilities; Suits

Sec. 8. Each applicant before being granted a loan, grant or scholarship shall enter into a contract with the Board, which shall be deemed a contract within the State of Texas, agreeing to the terms and conditions upon which the loan or scholarship shall be granted to him, which said contract shall include such terms and provisions as will carry out the full purpose and intent of this Act, and the form thereof shall be prepared and approved by the Attorney General of this State, and shall be signed by the Chairman of the Board, countersigned by the Secretary, and shall be signed by the applicant. For the purposes of this Act the disabilities and minorityhood of all applicants granted loans or scholarships hereunder shall be and the same are hereby removed and said applicants are declared to be full lawful age for the purpose of entering into the contract hereinabove provided for, and such contract so executed by any applicant is hereby declared to be a valid and binding contract the same as though the said applicant were of the full age of twenty-one (21) years and upward. The Board is hereby vested with the full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name any applicant for any balance due the Board upon any such contract.

Contracts for Admission with Medical Colleges or Schools

Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of the Board to contact and make inquiry of such of the medical colleges or schools as herein provided as it deems proper, and make such arrangements and enter into such contracts, within the limitations as to cost as herein provided, for the admission of students granted loans or scholarships by the Board, such contracts to be approved by the Attorney General of this State, and money obligations of such contracts so made by the Board with any such college shall be paid for out of the funds to be provided by law for such purposes, and all students granted loans, grants or scholarships shall attend the medical school with which the Board has entered a contract, or any accredited medical school or college in which said applicant may obtain admission, and which is approved by the Board.

Cancellation of Contracts

Sec. 10. The Board shall promulgate and adopt rules and regulations for the cancellation of any contract made between it and any applicant for loans or scholarships upon such cause deemed sufficient by the Board. And the Board shall have authority to cancel such contracts which it may lawfully cancel made with any of the colleges or schools as herein provided.

Requisition; Warrant; Payment by Comptroller out of Appropriated Funds

Sec. 11. All payments of funds or loans or scholarships hereunder shall be made by requisition of the Board signed by the Chairman and the Secretary directed to the Comptroller of the Public Accounts, who shall thereupon issue a warrant on the Treasury of the State of Texas for the amount fixed in the requisition and payable to the person designated thereon, which said warrant upon presentation shall be paid by the Comptroller out of any funds appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose provided for under this Act.

Contracts for Life Insurance

Sec. 12. The Board may contract with any insurance company or companies licensed to do business in Texas for issuance on the life of any applicant an amount sufficient to retire the principal and interest owed under a loan made under the provisions of this Act, the costs of the insurance shall be paid by the student borrower. No contract for insurance provided for in this section may be approved except by the Board during a regular meeting attended by a quorum of the total Board membership.

Extension of Time for Beginning Repayment

Sec. 13. The Board may extend the time for beginning repayment for unusual or financial hardships with approval of the Attorney General.

Suit on default

Sec. 14. (a) The Board shall collect any payments due from a loan recipient under this Act. The Attorney General shall make those collections only if the loan recipient defaults on making those payments.

(b) Upon any default as provided for herein the Board shall turn the same over to the Attorney General for prosecution and suit for the remaining sum shall be instituted by the Attorney General, or any county or district attorney acting for him, in the county of the person's residence, the county in which is located the institution at which the person was last enrolled, or in Travis County, unless the Attorney General finds reasonable justification for delaying suit and so advises the Board in writing.

Sec. 15. Repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 4.01(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Contracts with State and Federal Agencies, Corporations, Etc.

Sec. 16. In achieving the goals outlined in this Act and the performance of functions assigned to it, the Board may contract with any other State governmental agency as authorized by law, with any agency of the United States, and with corporations, associations, partnerships, and individuals.

Gifts, grants or donations; acceptance; deposit; expenditure

Sec. 17. The Board may accept gifts, grants or donations of real or personal property from any individual, group, association, or corporation or the United States, subject to limitations or conditions set by law. The gifts, grants, or donations of money shall be deposited in the Texas Medical Education Board fund, separately accounted for, and expended in accordance with the specific purposes for which given and under such conditions as are imposed by the donor and as provided by law.

Audit

Sec. 18. All transactions under this Act are subject to audit by the State Auditor.

Sec. 19. Repealed by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 4.01(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Rural Area

Sec. 20. Rural areas as defined in this Act shall mean residence in or intention to practice in a county of the State of Texas which according to the last preceding Federal Census had a population of less than 30,000.

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., p. 782, ch. 348, eff. June 12, 1973.

Sec. 1 amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.07, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 1b added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.07, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 1c added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.07, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 1d added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.07, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 2 amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.08, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 7 amended by Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 130, ch. 60, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 29, 1977; Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 4329, ch. 691, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 29, 1983.

Sec. 11 amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 21.47, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 14 amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.08, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 17 amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1084, Sec. 3.08, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 20 amended by Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 4330, ch. 691, Sec. 3, eff. Aug. 29, 1983.