(1) The Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program shall be administered by a commission to be known as the “Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Commission.” The commission shall be directed by a board composed of the following members:

(a) Two (2) generalist physicians appointed by and from the membership of the Mississippi State Medical Association, the term of which shall be three (3) years and may be reappointed for one (1) additional term;

(b) One (1) generalist physician appointed by and from the membership of each of the following organizations, the term of which shall be three (3) years and may be reappointed for one (1) additional term:

(i) Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians;

(ii) Mississippi Chapter, American College of Physicians;

(iii) Mississippi Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics;

(iv) Mississippi Chapter, American College of OB-GYN;

(v) Mississippi Medical and Surgical Association;

(vi) Mississippi Osteopathic Association;

(c) Two (2) designees of the Dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine whose terms are at the discretion of the dean, at least one (1) of whom is a member of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine Admissions Committee;

(d) Two (2) medical students, one (1) of whom shall be selected yearly through a process developed by the Dean of the School of Medicine in consultation with the Chairs of the Departments of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, OB-GYN and Pediatrics, and one (1) of whom shall be nominated for a one-year term by the Mississippi Chapter of the Student National Medical Association and approved by the Dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine;

(e) A member of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning;

(f) The Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine; and

(g) A licensed psychiatrist appointed by the Mississippi Chapter of the American Psychiatric Association.

(2) The premedical advisors from the accredited four-year colleges and universities in the state and the directors or designees of the primary care generalist training programs in the State of Mississippi shall comprise an advisory committee to the commission to assist the commission in its administration of the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.

(3) Vacancies on the commission must be filled in a manner consistent with the original appointments.

(4) All appointments to the commission must be made no later than September 1, 2019. After the members are appointed, the Chair of the Department of Family Medicine shall set a date for the organizational meeting that is mutually acceptable to the majority of the commission members. The organizational meeting shall be for the purposes of organizing the commission and establishing rules for transacting its business. A majority of the members of the commission shall constitute a quorum at all commission meetings. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting shall be required in the adoption of rules, reports and in any other actions taken by the commission. At the organizational meeting, the commission shall elect a chair and vice chair from the members appointed according to paragraphs (a) through (d) of subsection (1). The chair shall serve for a term of two (2) years, upon the expiration of which the vice chair shall assume the office of chair.

(5) After the organizational meeting, the commission shall hold no less than two (2) meetings annually.

(6) The commission may form an executive committee for the purpose of transacting business that must be conducted before the next regularly scheduled meeting of the commission. All actions taken by the executive committee must be ratified by the commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

(7) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed, subject to the availability of funding, for mileage and actual and necessary expenses incurred in attending meetings of the commission.

(8) Funding for the establishment and continued operation of the program and commission shall be appropriated out of any money in the General Fund not already appropriated to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.