The Legislature finds and declares that California has an insufficient number of minority health professionals to meet the health care needs in the state. Greater numbers of minority health professionals are required to meet the special needs of population groups who face cultural and linguistic barriers to adequate health care, and to meet the state’s needs for a more equitable geographic distribution of professional health personnel resources.

It is the intent of the Legislature to maintain a Health Professions Career Opportunity Program designed to:

health careers. This may include internships and fellowships to enable students to compete for admission to graduate health professions schools or employment in the health field, including, but not limited to, both of the following:

(I) Paid summer internships for students interning in community health centers, public health departments, public behavioral health settings, and with geriatric providers, as well as community-based initiatives that promote health equity.

(II) One-year postundergraduate fellowships for in-depth, pregraduate school experience in primary care and prevention, behavioral health, and geriatric health.

(ii) Annual postbaccalaureate reapplicant slots and the provision of student scholarships for reapplicant postbaccalaureate students to cover program tuition.

necessary consultation, recruitment, and counseling through other means.