1. (1) “Direct patient care” means face-to-face care with patients. Hours spent on-call or traveling are not considered direct patient care hours. Telehealth services provided to established patients may constitute direct patient care hours for no more than 50% of the applicant’s weekly direct patient care hours.
2. (2) “Eligible professions” means medical doctors with primary care specialties, doctors of osteopathic medicine with primary care specialties, physician assistants, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), advanced practice registered nurses actively engaged in autonomous practice as defined in section 464.0123(3)(a), F.S. (autonomous APRNs), licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed mental health counselors, and licensed psychologists.
3. (3) “Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)” means a geographic area, an area having a special population, or a facility, as designated by the Federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
4. (4) “Lender” means any entity involved in making, holding, consolidating, originating, servicing, or guaranteeing any loan to students to finance higher education expenses. This includes lenders who provide private educational loans as well as lenders who provide loans that are made, insured, or guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education.
5. (5) “Primary care specialties” practicing in obstetrics, gynecology, general and family practice, general internal medicine, geriatrics, general pediatrics, mental health, and psychiatry.
6. (6) “Qualified loan” means a federal and/or private student loan with a U.S.-based lender that has a verified principal balance remaining which loan proceeds were used to pay educational expenses enumerated in section 381.402(3)(a), F.S., incurred by students for studies leading to a degree and licensure in an eligible profession. Loans whose proceeds were used for any educational expenses that did not directly lead to these degrees or licenses are not qualified loans. Loans from an individual or entity that does not meet the definition of lender are not qualified loans.
7. (7) “Recertification” means an application submitted by an applicant that was awarded a loan in the immediately preceding application calendar year.
8. (8) “Recruitment Factor” means an additional 1 point added to an applicant’s prioritization score set forth in Rule 64W-4.005, F.A.C., if the applicant was hired within the same state fiscal year as the application cycle.
9. (9) “State fiscal year” means the period of time from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the next calendar year.

10. (10) “Underserved location” means:

    1. (a) A correctional facility,
    2. (b) A HPSA as designated by HRSA in a primary care discipline. Eligible professions in a primary care discipline and setting must be located in a primary care HPSA. Eligible professions in a mental health discipline and setting must be located in a mental health HPSA.
    3. (c) A rural hospital as defined in Section 395.602(2)(b) F.S.,
    4. (d) A state hospital (mental health professionals must use the facility mental health HPSA designation), or
    5. (e) Other state institutions that employ medical personnel.

11. (11) “Primary Care Settings”

    1. (a) Include:

       1. Correctional facilities, including local, state, and federal facilities,

       2. County Health Departments, including mobile units,

       3. Federally funded community health centers (FQHC) or FQHC Look-Alike, including mobile units,

       4. Federally funded migrant health centers,

       5. Home health agencies, for practitioners other than physicians,

       6. Intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled (ICF-DD), for practitioners other than physicians,

       7. Outpatient Practice Offices or Clinics (If the office or clinic where direct patient care is delivered is co-located in the same building as an inpatient hospital or specialty clinic, the office location is eligible.)

       8. Rural hospitals, as defined in section 395.602(2)(b), F.S., which are certified by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and listed on the AHCA Facility Finder. Eligible hospitals will be those listed as rural hospitals on January 15, or the next business day if the 15th falls on a weekend or holiday,

       9. Nursing Home Facilities, for practitioners other than physicians,

       10. Urgent Care facilities including mental health urgent care,

       11. Statewide Inpatient Psychiatric Programs (SIPPs) funded by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), and

       12. State institutions that employ practitioners in the eligible professions.

    2. (b) Exclude:

       1. Inpatient hospitals that are not rural hospitals as defined in section 395.602(2)(b), F.S.,

       2. Emergency rooms, whether attached to a hospital or at a stand-alone location,

       3. Ambulatory Care Clinics that do not provide primary care,

       4. Baker Act Receiving Facilities,

       5. Transplant centers,

       6. Outpatient Surgery centers, and

       7. Infusion centers.

12. (12) “U.S.-based lender” means any financial institution headquartered within the United States. Financial institutions headquartered outside of the U.S., even if they have branches in the U.S., are not U.S.-based lenders.

13. (13) “Valid Signature” means a signature that is either:

    1. (a) A handwritten signature in ink on a paper form, submitted as a scanned PDF, or
    2. (b) A hand-drawn digital signature created using a signature pad, stylus, finger, or a scanned image of a handwritten signature embedded on the signature line of a form.
14. (14) “Volunteer” means to perform services willingly and without being forced or paid to do it.

Rulemaking Authority 381.402 FS. Law Implemented 381.402 FS. History–New 4-20-23, Amended 2-15-24, 5-21-25, 6-8-26.