Section 2104.5.

The board, in consultation with various medical schools located in California, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and executive directors and medical directors of nonprofit community health centers, hospital administrators, and medical directors with experience hiring graduates of the Fifth Pathway Program or foreign medical school graduates shall study methods to reactivate the Fifth Pathway Program in medical schools located in this state. The executive directors and medical directors of nonprofit community health centers, the hospital administrators, and the medical directors should serve or work with underserved populations or in facilities located in medically underserved communities or in health professional shortage areas. The board shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2003, that shall include options for the Legislature to consider in order to facilitate the establishment of one or more Fifth Pathway Programs in medical schools located in California. The study shall focus on whether the Fifth Pathway Program can address the needs of areas where a shortage of providers exists, communities with a non-English speaking population in need of medical providers who speak their native language and understand their culture, and whether it can provide greater provider stability in these communities.

(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 1136, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2003.)