(a) “Code” means the Health and Safety Code.

(b) “Office” means the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

(c) “Employment” means the contractual work relationship between the practice setting and the physician.

(d) “Full-time status” or “full-time practice” means providing medical services for a minimum of 40 hours per week, for a minimum of 45 weeks per year. The 40 hours per week may be compressed into no less than four days per week, with no more than 12 hours of work in any 24-hour period. This does not include hours spent on call. At least 32 hours per week must be spent providing clinical services at the approved practice site(s) during normal office hours, except that, for physicians who are continuously engaged in the practice of obstetrics, at least 21 hours must be spent providing clinical services in addition to deliveries and other inpatient coverage. Absence from the practice cannot exceed 7 weeks in a calendar year except as otherwise required in order to comply with applicable federal and state laws.

(e) “Lender” means an entity from which an applicant has obtained a loan as defined in section 97931.01(f).

(f) “Loan” means an outstanding government or commercial educational loan for expenses incurred for undergraduate education and graduate medical education.

(g) “Program” means the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program described in Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 107 (commencing with Section 128550) of the code.

(h) “Recently obtained a license” means the physician was first issued an allopathic physician's license in any state of the United States or in Canada within 15 years from the date on which the application for loan repayment is filed.