§1616o University of South Dakota Pilot Program

Summary

The Secretary can give a grant to the University of South Dakota School of Medicine (USDSM) to start a pilot program on one or more Indian reservation service units in South Dakota. The program is meant to help fix the long-term staff shortage in the Aberdeen Area of the Service. It will give medical students and residents hands-on clinical experience, help ensure people on reservations can see qualified health workers, and offer academic and scholarly chances for doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and other health workers. The program must have an advisory board made up of tribal and local community members from the area it serves. It will be treated as part of the USDSM campus, and participants will be supervised and taught by qualified medical staff at the service unit who are USDSM faculty. USDSM must work with nearby medical and nursing schools, tribal colleges, and, together with the Service, create more reservation-based professional opportunities to improve hiring and keeping health workers in the Aberdeen Area.