Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request

Periodically, the Health Resources and Services Administration

(HRSA) publishes abstracts of information collection requests under

review by the Office of Management and Budget, in

[[Page 63354]]

compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter

35). To request a copy of the clearance requests submitted to OMB for

review, call the HRSA Reports Clearance Office on (301) 443-1129.

The following request has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget for review under the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995:

Proposed Project: Deferment Request Form for NHSC and NHH

Scholarship Programs (OMB NO. 0915-0179) Extension, No Change

We are requesting an extension of the OMB clearance for the

Deferment Request Form and associated reporting requirements for the

National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship Program and the Native

Hawaiian Health (NHH) Scholarship Program. The NHSC/NHH Scholarship

Programs are authorized by Section 338A and Section 338K of the Public

Health Service (PHS) Act. The requirements for obligated service, found

in Section 338C of the PHS Act, include provisions for deferment of the

service obligation under certain circumstances.

Under these programs, allopathic physicians, osteopathic

physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physician

assistants, and, if needed by the NHSC or NHH program, students of

other health professions (including mental health professionals) are

offered the opportunity to enter into a contractual agreement with the

Secretary under which the Public Health Service agrees to pay the total

school tuition, required fees and a stipend for living expenses. In

exchange, the scholarship recipient agrees to provide full-time

clinical services at a site in a federally designated Health

Professions Shortage Areas (HPSA) of the United States. NHH scholarship

recipients must be native Hawaiians and are assigned to sites in

Hawaii. The minimum service obligation is 2 years.

Once scholarship recipients have completed their academic

requirements, the law requires that selected types of recipients be

allowed to defer their service obligation in order to complete an

approved internship, residency, or other advanced clinical training.

The Deferment Request Form provides the information necessary for

considering the period and type of training for which deferment of the

service obligation will be approved for physicians and dentists.

In addition, these programs have two other reporting requirements

for which no forms have been developed, including:

(1) Individuals who are in a deferment status are required to

submit requests in writing for modifications to the deferment (e.g.,

extension of deferment or change of residency programs); and (2)

Dentists, who can either begin their service obligation immediately

after graduation or can be deferred for up to three years, are required

to notify the program in writing of their intent to request deferment.

The estimated burden on respondents is as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Responses Total

Type of report Number of per Hours per burden

respondents respondent response hours

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deferment Form.............................................. 600 1 .5 300

Requests for Change of Deferment and Letters of Intent...... 100 1 1 100

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Total................................................... 700 ........... ........... 400

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Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed

information collection should be sent within 30 days of this notice to:

Laura Oliven, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management

and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, D.C.

20503.

Dated: November 21, 1997.

Jane Harrison,

Acting Director, Division of Policy Review and Coordination.

[FR Doc. 97-31209 Filed 11-26-97; 8:45 am]

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