1. (1) A candidate shall be eligible to compete for such a scholarship if the candidate will begin or continue approved professional study of medicine or osteopathy during the college year immediately following the college year in which the competition is held.

2. (2) Candidates will be placed within the appropriate priority group set forth in paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 605 of the Education Law, ranked in accordance with family income. Candidates whose family incomes are identical will be ranked by score on an examination acceptable to the commissioner.

   (c) Areas of shortage of physicians.

   For the purposes of this program, areas of shortage of physicians shall be designated by the Regents, after consultation with the Commissioner of Health, and in accordance with criteria and standards established by the Regents.

   (d) Approved practice of medicine.

3. (1) To qualify for cancellation of repayment pursuant to the terms of subdivision 4 of section 605 of the Education Law, the recipient of an award must establish a practice of medicine or be employed as a licensed physician to serve an area designated by the Regents as having a shortage of physicians, and he must provide essentially full-time direct patient care to the residents of such area. The prime criterion which must be fulfilled in order for a physician to qualify for approval is that such medical practice or employment must serve to reduce the shortage of physicians providing direct patient care in the designated area. If agency, institution or government employment, or participation in a group practice of medicine, fulfills the foregoing requirements, such activity may be approved for the purposes of this program. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, the approved practice of medicine may not include service as intern or resident in an approved training program.
4. (2) Award recipients who, on or after January 1, 1988, commence an approved residency training program in family practice or an approved residency or fellowship training program in geriatrics at any location, or an approved residency training program in general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general obstetrics and gynecology or emergency medicine which is conducted in an area designated by the Regents as a primary care physician shortage area, shall be credited with one month of service toward fulfillment of their service obligation for every two months of service completed in such an approved residency training program, up to a maximum credit of 18 months of service.

5. (3) Entrance into an approved practice of medicine must begin not later than one year after the completion of professional training and/or completion of active military service, unless the Commissioner of Education shall specify a later date upon a finding that such deferral is consistent with the purposes of the Regents physician shortage scholarship program. Professional training shall be considered to be the completion of all internships and residencies normally required by the recipient's field of specialization. Further, if an area is designated by the Regents as a shortage area at the time that an award recipient completed his professional training and/or military service, the practice of medicine by this recipient in such area shall be considered as approved practice for purposes of this program, even if the designation of such area should subsequently be changed by the Regents.

   (e) Revocation of awards.

   Should an award recipient at any point before completion of the medical degree program cancel or withdraw the agreement to practice medicine in an area having a shortage of physicians, or should the award be revoked for other cause, the recipient shall not thereafter be eligible for further awards under the provisions of subdivision 3 or 4 of section 605 of the Education Law, and if the recipient fails to comply with the requirements concerning approved practice upon completion of h s professional training, the full amount of the awards already received shall be subject to repayment, without regard to other Regents scholarship or tuition assistance program awards which the award recipient may otherwise have been entitled to receive for medical study completed before such revocation. However, an award shall not be revoked solely for reason of discontinuing residence in an area of shortage of physicians after the effective date of the award.

(a) Number.

Thirty such awards shall be made annually.

(b) Eligibility.