National Health Service Corps

National Health Service Corps has made two temporary policy changes that make it easier for approved service sites to take advantage of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding intended to support 3,300 new clinicians in approved sites by 2010.

• Sites approved between October 1, 2005 and September 30, 2007 are now approved through September 30, 2010, provided they continue to meet NHSC site requirements, although their original Recruitment & Retention (R&R) application was originally scheduled to expire between October 1, 2008 and September 29, 2010. Site requirements are listed on pages 9 and 10 in the R&R application.
  
  R&R applications with an expiration date on or after September 30, 2010, are not affected by this policy.
  
  
• In addition, sites no longer need to re-apply if their HPSA score changes, provided they continue to be located within a designated HPSA.  Sites located within HPSAs that are proposed for withdrawal are not eligible for NHSC placements.

Examples of site approval and expiration dates affected by this policy:

R&R Application Approved	New Expiration Date
October 5, 2005	September 30, 2010
July 1, 2006	September 30, 2010
February 10, 2007	September 30, 2010

Did You Know?

• Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, through 2009-2010, sites with lower Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scores are eligible and sites can list more vacancies and bring on more loan repayment clinicians. Read the Federal Register Notice (PDF – 55 KB)
• In 2009-2010, sites must have a HPSA score of 17 or higher to list scholar vacancies and can hire no more than one scholar physician, one scholar dentist, one scholar psychiatrist and one of the following scholars: nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant.  Read the Federal Register Notice (PDF – 56 KB)
• To maintain your eligibility to recruit NHSC clinicians, submit a Recruitment and Retention Assistance application every three years – unless your site was approved between October 1, 2005 and September 30, 2007. These sites are now approved through September 30, 2010.

Clinicians

Practice where you’re needed the most

If you are a primary health care clinician who wants to make a difference in a community of greatest need, the NHSC is looking for you. We are currently recruiting primary care professionals, including dental and mental and behavioral health clinicians.

As an NHSC clinician, you will:

• Serve on an interdisciplinary team—NHSC promotes a team approach to health care. Our primary health care teams comprise interdisciplinary groups of clinicians whose combined skills maximize the team’s ability to meet their patients’ health care needs. Team members vary based on the specific needs of each community.
  
• Focus on community-based health care—Practicing with a community focus, NHSC clinicians treat the whole patient through health promotion, disease prevention, and continuity of care.
  
• Receive the support and assistance you need to fulfill your career goal of helping communities in need, including:
  
  
  • Job placement assistance in underserved communities
    
  • Competitive loan repayment programs for clinicians committed to serving communities of greatest need
    - NHSC Federal Loan Repayment Program
    - State loan repayment programs
    
  • NEW opportunity to join the NHSC Ready Responders as a U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Officer
    
  • Opportunities to work with and train the next generation of clinicians committed to serving communities in need through preceptorship and mentoring opportunities
    
• Success Stories—Where clinicians are making a difference
  
• Resources for clinicians

Are you already a member of the NHSC team?

• NHSC Scholar
• NHSC Loan Repayor
  
  ___________________________________________
  
  Stay in Compliance with the NHSC Scholarship Program
  
  Did you know that even as a resident that you can be suggested for default? If you become non-compliant, i.e., not completing requested forms and returning them and returning them in a timely manner, failure to let us know where you are, not returning money that you owe NHSC, etc., you will be suggested for default. It has been a year now and we are requesting an update of your current status.  If you did not receive your Deferment Request Form, please contact your analyst immediately. If you did receive your form and did not complete and return it yet, please do so immediately so that you can stay in compliance with the program.
  
  Are You Wondering If You Can Do Something Different During Your Residency?
  
  Are you trying to work as a chief resident, combine/integrate programs, interested in a fellowship, etc., residency period? Before you do anything, please contact your analyst. All requests must be done in writing. All status changes, including name and address changes must also be done in writing. Stay in touch with your analyst. If you do not know who he/she is, please call our toll free number and let the person know who you are and where and what medical school you attended. The toll-free number is 1-800-793-1547 and you will be transferred to your analyst immediately.
  
  Failure to Match to a Residency Program
  
  If a scholar fails to match to an approved residency, or fails to comply with the terms and conditions of deferment, including physicians failing to complete an NHSC-approved residency, is considered to be in breach of their scholarship commitments. When recipients breach for any reason, the NHSC is entitled to recover from its scholarship recipients, three times the scholarship award plus interest. If you feel that you are having problems matching with an approved residency program, please contact your analyst.
  
  Licensure and Certification
  
  PLEASE REMEMBER: Regardless of the school or your residency program requirements, the NHSC require that all MD/DO scholars complete steps 1, 2, and 3 or the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) or levels 1, 2, and 3 of the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX) by the completion of the residency training program. If you are unable to pass all parts of the licensing exam and obtain a license to practice medicine, when it’s time for your service commitment to begin, that scholar will not be eligible for a suspension of the service obligation and may be placed in default.
  
  NHSC expects its MD/DO scholars to complete and pass:
  
  Step 1 of the USMLE or Level 1 of the COMLEX by the end of the 2nd year of their MD/DO program
  Step 2 of the USMLE or Level 2 of the COMLEX by the end of the 4th year of their MD/DO program
  Step 3 of the USMLE or Level 3 of the COMLEX by the end of the 1st year of their postgraduate (residency) training program
  Last Year of Internship/Residency
  
  If you will be completing your internship/residency and you have not heard from our placement staff, please contact your analyst immediately. 
  
  Apply For Loan Repayment
  
  Up to $50,000 to Repay Student Loans
• Primary care physicians: MD or DO in family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry
• Primary care nurse practitioners
• Certified nurse-midwives
• Primary care physician assistants
• Dentists: general or pediatric
• Dental hygienists
• Behavioral and mental health providers: health service psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, psychiatric nurse specialists, marriage and family therapists, and licensed professional counselor

If you are fully trained and licensed, a U.S. citizen or national, and working at an approved site within a designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), you may apply for this generous loan repayment program when the application cycle opens. 

By October 1, the documentation required to support your on-line application to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program will be dramatically reduced. You will need to submit fewer documents and the documents you do need to submit will be easier to compile.

Payment is tax free and made in a lump sum so you can pay down your loans fast.

For Two Years as a Health Care Hero

In exchange for up to $50,000 to repay your student loans, you will practice your profession for two years in an American community that needs you desperately.

If you're like most National Health Service Corps participants, you will want to continue providing full-time primary care in a high-need Health Professional Shortage Area. After you have fulfilled your minimum two-year service commitment, you may apply for an additional year of funding if you continue to have unpaid qualifying educational loans.

You select your service site from more than 6,000 approved National Health Service Corps job opportunities. More than half of the sites are HRSA-supported health centers, where clinicians can be granted medical malpractice liability protection through the Federal Tort Claims Act.

How It Works

• You apply and compete for approved National Health Service Corps Job Opportunities in designated Health Professional Shortage Areas
• You negotiate salary and benefits with the employing facility, independent of your application to the loan repayment program
• You apply to the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program

Next step: Read the Applicant Information Bulletin

Contract Amendment Application for Loan Repayors

Apply For a National Health Service Corps Scholarship: Applications Due April 6, 2010

Tuition, Fees, Other Reasonable Costs and Living Stipend

• Primary care physicians: MD or DO in family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, general psychiatry
• Primary care nurse practitioners
• Certified nurse-midwives
• Primary care physician assistants
• Dentists: general or pediatric

If you are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an accredited training program, a U.S. citizen or national, and commited to practicing primary care at an approved site in one of the designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) that needs you most, you may apply for this generous scholarship.

The Recovery Act provides additional funding for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, which expects to be able to award scholarships to more students this year.

The scholarship is tax free except for the living stipend ($1,282 per month this year). 

The application is submitted on-line, with supplemental forms and documentation that must be submitted on paper. You will need to submit

• proof of U.S. citizenship
• transcript
• resume detailing volunteer and work experience (no more than five pages)
• verifications and evaluations from your school
• essays in response to prompts

Applications submitted after the deadline are not reviewed.

For Serving Your Nation as a Health Care Hero

In exchange for your scholarship, you will practice your profession for a minimum of two years (one year of service for each year of support with a maximum four years) in an American community that needs you desperately.

Most scholars (92 percent) at community health centers or other non-Federal sites. The rest serve as Federal employees at Indian Health Service, Bureau of Prisons or Immigration and Customs Enforcement sites.

You select your service site from an approved National Health Service Corps job opportunity for scholars. More than half of the sites are HRSA-supported health centers, where clinicians can be granted medical malpractice liability protection through the Federal Tort Claims Act.

How the Service Commitment Works

• After graduation (and an NHSC-approved residency for physicians and dentists), you apply and compete for approved National Health Service Corps Job Opportunities for scholars in designated high-need Health Professional Shortage Areas.
• You negotiate salary and benefits with the employing facility, independent of your scholarship and the National Health Service Corps.
• You fulfill your commitment at the approved facility and, if you're like most scholars, you elect to stay longer.

Next Steps

• Applicant Information Bulletin (PDF - 321 KB). Read carefully before beginning your application. Be sure to print and save a copy.
• Register & apply on-line. When you submit your on-application, you will be prompted to download forms that you must complete, print and mail.

This year's NHSC Scholarship application deadline has passed.

Sign up to be notified by e-mail when the application for the 2010-2011 school year is available.

How are Scholars Chosen?

If you meet the eligibility requirements and are dedicated to working where you are needed most, we encourage you to apply to the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program.

Because the NHSC does not usually have enough funding to award scholarships to every worthy applicant, scholars are selected according to the following priorities:

1. Former NHSC scholars in need of additional years of support
2. Scholarship for Students of Exceptional Financial Need recipients enrolled in medical or dental school
3. Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

When Will I Know?

If you are selected to receive the National Health Service Corps Scholarship, you will be notified by e-mail or postal letter by September 30 and must respond promptly that you accept. If you do not accept by the deadline specified in your notification, your offer expires.

If you are selected as an alternate, you will be notified by e-mail by September 30 that you are an alternate. If a scholarship becomes available, you will be notified immediately.

If you are not selected as a scholarship recipient or alternate, you will be notified by October 31.

Did You Know?

• Scholars have to verify their personal information every six months by completing and returning a form sent to them by e-mail.
• Scholars receive placement information from the NHSC three months before graduation.
• Scholars must begin to fulfill their service commitment at an approved site with a scholar vacancy within nine months or graduation or completion of an approved residency or postgraduate program.
• In 2009-2010, scholars must fulfill their service commitment at an approved site with a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) score of at least 17.

Frequently Asked Questions

NHSC Ready Responders
The Ready Responder Program is actively recruiting potential sites for placement of clinicians (primary care physicians, psychiatrists, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, clinical psychologists and social workers). NOTE: The HPSA score must be a 15 or higher for the requested discipline (primary care, dental or mental health) to qualify as a site. If you are uncertain about your score, please visit http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage and search the HPSA database using the advanced search option or call me. 

Ready responders are assigned to serve for three years in the neediest HPSAs. The Public Health Service pays salaries, benefits and moving expenses for the officers. If your HPSA score qualifies for placement of a Ready Responder and you want to submit an application, please complete the attached forms "Proposal for Use of a Commissioned Officer and the NHSC Recruitment & Retention Assistance Application (http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/join_us/ready_comm.asp). Completed proposals/applications should be addressed to:

NHSC Recruitment, Training and Support Center

2099 Gaither Road, Suite 600

Rockville, MD 20850

(866) 897-7872 ext. 3004

NHSC Ready Responder Application
NHSC Ready Respoder Application Instructions
NHSC Ready Responder Application Cover Letter