Private practice

The Secretary shall, to the extent permitted by, and consistent with, the requirements of applicable State law, release an individual from all or part of his service obligation under section 254m(a) of this title or under section 234 11 See References in Text note below. of this title (as in effect on September 30, 1977) if the individual applies for such a release under this section and enters into a written agreement with the Secretary under which the individual agrees to engage for a period equal to the remaining period of his service obligation in the full-time private clinical practice (including service as a salaried employee in an entity directly providing health services) of his health profession— The written agreement described in subsection (a) shall— If an individual breaches the contract entered into under section 254l or 254l–1 of this title by failing (for any reason) to begin his service obligation in accordance with an agreement entered into under subsection (a) or to complete such service obligation, the Secretary may permit such individual to perform such service obligation as a member of the Corps. The Secretary may pay an individual who has entered into an agreement with the Secretary under subsection (a) an amount to cover all or part of the individual’s expenses reasonably incurred in transporting himself, his family, and his possessions to the location of his private clinical practice. Upon the expiration of the written agreement under subsection (a), the Secretary may (notwithstanding any other provision of law) sell to the individual who has entered into an agreement with the Secretary under subsection (a), equipment and other property of the United States utilized by such individual in providing health services. Sales made under this subsection shall be made at the fair market value (as determined by the Secretary) of the equipment or such other property, except that the Secretary may make such sales for a lesser value to the individual if he determines that the individual is financially unable to pay the full market value. The Secretary may, out of appropriations authorized under section 254k of this title, pay to individuals participating in private practice under this section the cost of such individual’s malpractice insurance and the lesser of— The Secretary shall, upon request, provide to each individual released from service obligation under this section technical assistance to assist such individual in fulfilling his or her agreement under this section.