NHSC: Is it for me?

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Major_Guile

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Hello, I plan on becoming a PCP and working in underserved areas. I was planning on staying in my home area of southeastern KY, but I am open to moving wherever. I also want to work in Doctors Without Borders eventually. I just recently learned about this scholarship and it seems to vastly outweigh the military scholarship I was going for. I have read through all the threads here and the official Program Guidance pdf and I still have some questions.

1) Will I stay busy making a medical difference or is there a lot of administrative tasks that get put on me?

2) When does the application open??

3) Are there other scholarships I have not heard about?

4) How many people pay back their 4 years while completing a residency?

5) Is there any chance of a WASP with a judge for dad getting the scholarship? I hear it is mostly intended for poor minorities, but I think that my area begins to qualify me for this... A little...

Thank y'all for the consideration!

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Hello, I plan on becoming a PCP and working in underserved areas. I was planning on staying in my home area of southeastern KY, but I am open to moving wherever. I also want to work in Doctors Without Borders eventually. I just recently learned about this scholarship and it seems to vastly outweigh the military scholarship I was going for. I have read through all the threads here and the official Program Guidance pdf and I still have some questions.

1) Will I stay busy making a medical difference or is there a lot of administrative tasks that get put on me?

2) When does the application open??

3) Are there other scholarships I have not heard about?

4) How many people pay back their 4 years while completing a residency?

Thank y'all for the consideration!

1. It depends on what you mean by "administrative tasks. If you mean, tasks integral to running a clinic, not many. You will mostly be involved in seeing patients, sometimes a LOT of patients. You will be doing the paperwork for these patients. But you will not be doing administrative tasks like billing or sending out billing, etc.

2. The application opens in March, usually.

3. There are no other national scholarships like the NHSC that I am aware of. There may be local or state scholarships, but I do not know of any off of the top of my head.

4. Your residency years do NOT count as part of your service payback. The service payback starts once you have graduated from residency.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
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1. It depends on what you mean by "administrative tasks. If you mean, tasks integral to running a clinic, not many. You will mostly be involved in seeing patients, sometimes a LOT of patients. You will be doing the paperwork for these patients. But you will not be doing administrative tasks like billing or sending out billing, etc.

2. The application opens in March, usually.

3. There are no other national scholarships like the NHSC that I am aware of. There may be local or state scholarships, but I do not know of any off of the top of my head.

4. Your residency years do NOT count as part of your service payback. The service payback starts once you have graduated from residency.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Just one more, I am curious about what they mean by "Disadvantaged Background". Southeastern KY is the poorest area of America (My home county has an HPSA score of 22) and my family's income is about 23k on their W2... My Dad is a WASP judge though.
 
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I agree with smq123. Your site will want you working to the top of your license and generally that precludes administrative work that others can do. If anything, you may be overloaded with patients (hopefully not, and it depends on finding the right clinic that you feel has a good balance between quantity and quality).

There are other scholarships, NY state has a loan repayment scholarship modeled after NHSC LRP. Other states have loan repayment. I think IHS has some loan repayment programs. But I know of none other (excepting military scholarships) that is as generous as the NHSC Scholarship. It is much more generous than a loan repayment because it covers ALL of your tuition and fees and also gives you a stipend. However, it is a serious commitment so you need to be sure primary care is where you want to be, at least for the number of years you committed to. There is no real looking back until you finish your obligation. If primary care is where you want to be, it is an awesome deal.

In regards to disadvantaged background status, it can be a very generous term, and it looks like you qualify with what you've said. While they do consider this in your application, they also highly value people who intend to stay in an underserved area. So I think you have a very good chance to get a scholarship, depending on your essay and the rest of your application. Here is the criteria for "Disadvantaged Background Status" from NHSC:

CRITERIA FOR DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND STATUS

Students from a disadvantaged background have either participated in or would have been eligible to participate in Federal Programs such as the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, Loans to Disadvantaged Students, or the Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant Program.

  1. Environmentally Disadvantaged

    If a student who comes from an environment that has inhibited them from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enroll in and/or graduate from a health professions or nursing school is considered as being Environmentally Disadvantaged.

    The following is a list of common characteristics that describe students who are Environmentally Disadvantaged. The examples are provided as guidance only, and are not intended to be all-inclusive:
    • Person from high school with low average SAT/ACT scores or below the average State test results.

    • Person from a school district where 50 percent or less of graduates go to college.

    • Person who has a diagnosed physical or mental impairment that substantially limits participation in educational

      experiences.

    • Person for who English is not his or her primary language and for whom language is still a barrier to academic

      performance.

    • Person who is first generation to attend college.

    • Person from a high school where at least 30 percent of enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches.

      – OR –
  2. Economically Disadvantaged
    The following are characteristics that describe students who are considered Economically Disadvantaged:
    • Students who come from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds established by the U.S. Census Bureau, adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

    • The Secretary defines a ‘‘low income family’’ for various health professions and nursing programs included in Titles III, VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act as having an annual income that does not exceed 200 percent of the Department’s poverty guidelines.

    • A family is a group of two or more individuals related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together or an individual who is not living with any relatives.
 
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Wonderful! I will keep seeking out other scholarships and definitely apply to this one. Thank y'all for the assistance!
 
The application is now open, y'all!
 
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Thank you.


I agree with smq123. Your site will want you working to the top of your license and generally that precludes administrative work that others can do. If anything, you may be overloaded with patients (hopefully not, and it depends on finding the right clinic that you feel has a good balance between quantity and quality).

There are other scholarships, NY state has a loan repayment scholarship modeled after NHSC LRP. Other states have loan repayment. I think IHS has some loan repayment programs. But I know of none other (excepting military scholarships) that is as generous as the NHSC Scholarship. It is much more generous than a loan repayment because it covers ALL of your tuition and fees and also gives you a stipend. However, it is a serious commitment so you need to be sure primary care is where you want to be, at least for the number of years you committed to. There is no real looking back until you finish your obligation. If primary care is where you want to be, it is an awesome deal.

In regards to disadvantaged background status, it can be a very generous term, and it looks like you qualify with what you've said. While they do consider this in your application, they also highly value people who intend to stay in an underserved area. So I think you have a very good chance to get a scholarship, depending on your essay and the rest of your application. Here is the criteria for "Disadvantaged Background Status" from NHSC:

CRITERIA FOR DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUND STATUS

Students from a disadvantaged background have either participated in or would have been eligible to participate in Federal Programs such as the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, Loans to Disadvantaged Students, or the Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant Program.

  1. Environmentally Disadvantaged

    If a student who comes from an environment that has inhibited them from obtaining the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enroll in and/or graduate from a health professions or nursing school is considered as being Environmentally Disadvantaged.

    The following is a list of common characteristics that describe students who are Environmentally Disadvantaged. The examples are provided as guidance only, and are not intended to be all-inclusive:
    • Person from high school with low average SAT/ACT scores or below the average State test results.

    • Person from a school district where 50 percent or less of graduates go to college.

    • Person who has a diagnosed physical or mental impairment that substantially limits participation in educational

      experiences.

    • Person for who English is not his or her primary language and for whom language is still a barrier to academic

      performance.

    • Person who is first generation to attend college.

    • Person from a high school where at least 30 percent of enrolled students are eligible for free or reduced price lunches.

      – OR –
  2. Economically Disadvantaged
    The following are characteristics that describe students who are considered Economically Disadvantaged:
    • Students who come from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds established by the U.S. Census Bureau, adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index.

    • The Secretary defines a ‘‘low income family’’ for various health professions and nursing programs included in Titles III, VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act as having an annual income that does not exceed 200 percent of the Department’s poverty guidelines.

    • A family is a group of two or more individuals related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together or an individual who is not living with any relatives.
 
I am going to respond to your questions within the quote in italics.

Hello, I plan on becoming a PCP and working in underserved areas. I was planning on staying in my home area of southeastern KY, but I am open to moving wherever. I also want to work in Doctors Without Borders eventually. I just recently learned about this scholarship and it seems to vastly outweigh the military scholarship I was going for. I have read through all the threads here and the official Program Guidance pdf and I still have some questions.

1) Will I stay busy making a medical difference or is there a lot of administrative tasks that get put on me?
Unfortunately the paperwork (or rather EHR computer work) does seem to increase exponentially in all areas of medicine. I don't necessarily think that it will be any better or worse in an acceptable NHSC site.

2) When does the application open??
When I applied I think it was in February maybe? You should check the dates online.

3) Are there other scholarships I have not heard about?
Some people consider HPSP a similar program. I personally wasn't comfortable with a military commitment (although I have a family member who has been quite happy combining a career in pharmacy and the navy so it can work very well for some people). Some medical schools have additional scholarships (I got a significant one my third year of medical school which is part of why I only accepted two years of the NHSC scholarship).

4) How many people pay back their 4 years while completing a residency?
You can't fulfill your service obligation while in residency. I suppose that you could do your internship, obtain a permanent license, and then fulfill your service obligation as a GP. Most opportunities for physicians with that background will be in the prison system. I do have a friend who realized while in the scholarship program that he really wanted to be an anesthesiologist. He only accepted two years of the scholarship so he only had two years of service obligation, completed a transitional internship year, worked two years in the prison and managed to get back into anesthesia with a PGY2 spot once he had completed his service obligation. He went into all of this with the understanding that he would be fighting an uphill battle and he has said it was an overly stressful two years. It worked for him but it was risky. He also was a strong on paper candidate with regards to board scores, transcripts, and recommendations. He ranked only transitional programs that also had anesthesia programs he thought he was competitive for, made connections during his internship year, and worked hard to maintain his network during his prison stint.

5) Is there any chance of a WASP with a judge for dad getting the scholarship? I hear it is mostly intended for poor minorities, but I think that my area begins to qualify me for this... A little...
I'm the daughter of two health professionals who grew up in an area where cows outnumbered people. I was an NHSC Scholar.

Thank y'all for the consideration!
 
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