GRANTS; ELIGIBILITY

(a) Subject to available funding, the department shall develop and implement, as a component of the program, a grant program to support employment opportunities in rural and underserved urban areas in this state for students participating in training or educational programs to become health care professionals. (b) In awarding grants under the program, the department shall give first priority to grants to training or educational programs that provide internships to students. (c) To be eligible to receive a grant under the grant program, a person must: (1) apply for the grant on a form adopted by the department; (2) be enrolled or intend to be enrolled in a training or educational program to become a health care professional; (3) commit to practice or work, after licensure as a health care professional, for at least one year as a health care professional in a rural or underserved urban area in this state; and (4) comply fully with any practice or requirements associated with any scholarship, loan, or other similar benefit received by the student. (d) As a condition of receiving a grant under the program the student must agree to repay the amount of the grant, plus a penalty in an amount established by rule of the department not to exceed two times the amount of the grant, if the student becomes licensed as a health care professional and fails to practice or work for at least one year as a health care professional in a rural or underserved urban area in this state.