Arkansas Code
Subchapter 7 - Rural Medical Practice Student Loans and Scholarships
§ 6-81-701. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Medically underserved” means an area in Arkansas that the Arkansas Rural Medical Practice Student Loan and Scholarship Board determines has unmet needs for medical services due to factors, including without limitation:
(A) The ratio of primary care physicians to population;
(B) The infant mortality rate;
(C) The percentage of:
(i) Population with incomes below the federal poverty level, as it existed on January 1, 2017;
(ii) Resident individuals sixty (60) years of age and older; and
(iii) Physicians sixty (60) years of age and older;

(D) Accessibility within the area to primary care medicine; and
(E) Other relevant criteria the board may deem necessary for a determination of unmet needs for medical services;

(2) “Primary care medicine” means health care provided in one (1) of the following areas of practice:
(A) Family medicine;
(B) General internal medicine;
(C) General internal medicine and pediatrics;
(D) General pediatrics;
(E) General obstetrics and gynecology;
(F) General surgery;
(G) Emergency medicine; and
(H) Geriatrics; and

(3) “Qualified rural community” means an area:
(A) With a population below twenty thousand (20,000) according to the most recent federal census;
(B) That is at least twenty (20) miles from a city or town with a population of more than twenty thousand (20,000) according to the most recent federal census; and
(C) That is reasonably determined by the board to be medically underserved.