Loan repayments and fellowships regarding faculty positions

The Secretary shall establish a program of entering into contracts with individuals described in paragraph (2) under which the individuals agree to serve as members of the faculties of schools described in paragraph (3) in consideration of the Federal Government agreeing to pay, for each year of such service, not more than $30,000 of the principal and interest of the educational loans of such individuals. The individuals referred to in paragraph (1) are individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who— are enrolled as full-time students— The schools described in this paragraph are schools of medicine, nursing (as schools of nursing are defined in section 296 of this title), osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, allied health, podiatric medicine, optometry, veterinary medicine, or public health, schools offering physician assistant education programs, or schools offering graduate programs in behavioral and mental health. The Secretary may not enter into a contract under paragraph (1) unless— the contract referred to in subparagraph (A) provides that— The provisions of sections 254m, 254p, and 254q–1 of this title shall apply to the program established in paragraph (1) to the same extent and in the same manner as such provisions apply to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program established in subpart III of part D of subchapter II, including the applicability of provisions regarding reimbursements for increased tax liability and regarding bankruptcy. The Secretary may waive the requirement established in paragraph (4)(B) if the Secretary determines that the requirement will impose an undue financial hardship on the school involved. The Secretary may make grants to and enter into contracts with eligible entities to assist such entities in increasing the number of underrepresented minority individuals who are members of the faculty of such schools. To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under this subsection, an entity shall provide an assurance, in the application submitted by the entity, that— each fellowship awarded pursuant to the grant or contract will include— To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under paragraph (1), an applicant shall demonstrate to the Secretary that such applicant has or will have the ability to— To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under paragraph (1) an applicant shall— For purposes of this subsection, the term “underrepresented minority individuals” means individuals who are members of racial or ethnic minority groups that are underrepresented in the health professions including nursing.