When is a NHSC contract signed

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I'm just trying to gather info regarding the NHSC scholarship. When reading the pdf available on their site I came across the following:

"Submit a complete application and signed contract. Each applicant must submit a resume, two letters of reference, and a school transcript. In addition, each applicant is required to respond to three essay questions. "

When is this contract made available? Does one apply and submit a signed contract simultaneously? Or is the contract signed after a scholarship has been awarded?

Some of their info is a bit vague, so maybe others with experience can chime in. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dharma

I'm just trying to gather info regarding the NHSC scholarship. When reading the pdf available on their site I came across the following:

"Submit a complete application and signed contract. Each applicant must submit a resume, two letters of reference, and a school transcript. In addition, each applicant is required to respond to three essay questions. "

When is this contract made available? Does one apply and submit a signed contract simultaneously? Or is the contract signed after a scholarship has been awarded?

Some of their info is a bit vague, so maybe others with experience can chime in. Thanks!

When I applied for the scholarship (many years ago), it was still on paper. However, the application itself contained the contract (it was the last page of the application packet), which you signed and sent back with your application. I imagine that they are still doing something similar, now that they are an online application.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by smq123

When I applied for the scholarship (many years ago), it was still on paper. However, the application itself contained the contract (it was the last page of the application packet), which you signed and sent back with your application. I imagine that they are still doing something similar, now that they are an online application.

Hope that helps.

Thank you! I guess I'll find out for sure when I apply in a few months. That's gonna be a pretty significant "send" button, huh?

Scratch that. I found this towards the very end of the pdf:

"Declining Scholarship Support
If individuals selected for an award decide not to accept the award, they may decline the scholarship support. The declination of an award is without penalty and permits the promotion of alternates to selectee status. Once an applicant declines the offer of award, the award will be offered to an alternate. There will not be any opportunities to reclaim the award. A decision to decline the scholarship award is final and cannot be changed under any circumstances."

This is true, but you do/did sign the contract at the time of application -what happens is the Secretary never signs your contract if you decline the scholarship, and the contract isn't final till she signs. There have been stories on this forum in the past of paperwork snafus that resulted in students discovering they received the scholarship only when HRSA deposited the stipend into their checking account, so they sort of missed the window to decline, given they weren't informed they were given the award. I imagine in those circumstances it is more difficult to decline.
Honestly, if it's that big of a deal to you to commit, you probably shouldn't apply. Only do it if you are 100% sure it's what you want -it should be a no-brainer -sure, pay me to do exactly what I want to do.

Thanks for the 411 Montessori! I know this is probably a tough question to answer, but what are the odds of a DO/MD student landing a scholarship? Any word on what the deciding factors are or is the somewhat unknown?

Originally Posted by Dharma

Thanks for the 411 Montessori! I know this is probably a tough question to answer, but what are the odds of a DO/MD student landing a scholarship? Any word on what the deciding factors are or is the somewhat unknown?

bump..also Dharma what are you planning on doing for the letters of rec? are you just sending in your med school LORs or are you going to start from scratch..

Originally Posted by donkeykong1

bump..also Dharma what are you planning on doing for the letters of rec? are you just sending in your med school LORs or are you going to start from scratch..

I'm going to ask my advisor to write me a letter just for this, in hopes it may help a bit if it's geared towards the scholarship. Do you know how the NHSC collects the letters? Could it be by Interfolio or only mail? Just want to get my ducks in a row so I'm ready to go once the application cycle opens. I still need to hunt down a non-academic LOR too!

sounds good. for the academic LOR I might go with one that was written for med school and for non-academic maybe my supervisor at work. good luck..

Originally Posted by donkeykong1

sounds good. for the academic LOR I might go with one that was written for med school and for non-academic maybe my supervisor at work. good luck..

You too bro. Definitely post if you find anymore info. I can hear the crickets on this section of SDN. Peaceful huh?

lol. i know right, its pretty quiet in here. i thought about creating an NHSC scholarship 2012 thread but this place doesn't get the volume the med student forums do.

hopefully we have a good shot for the scholarship, my adviser says about 14% of students got the scholarship last year among which 1/3 were DOs. i don't have concrete stats however to back that up...

Originally Posted by Dharma

Any word on what the deciding factors are or is the somewhat unknown?

They tell you on their website that they look for applicants who possess traits that indicate they will stay and work with an underserved community for a long time. Whatever the heck that means, though, is anyone's guess.

Originally Posted by smq123

They tell you on their website that they look for applicants who possess traits that indicate they will stay and work with an underserved community for a long time. Whatever the heck that means, though, is anyone's guess.

Haha! Yeah, I saw that and was like

The NHSC scholarship program awarded 211 scholarships in 2010 to students preparing to become physicians (MD or DO), dentists (DDS or DMD), family nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives or physician assistants. Scholarships were awarded to 105 individuals studying to become physicians, both DO and MD. Osteopathic medical students received 42 of the scholarships awarded to medical students, accounting for 40 percent of total physician scholarships awarded.

source: http://lecom.edu/news-archive-articl...6/0/2820/20043

Hey guys,
I have been keeping an eye on this forum. I am also set on doing primary care and will be applying for the scholarship as well. Good luck to all of us and please keep this thread updated with any info. Thanks!!!!

Likewise, I am planning on going for this scholarship, so I'll be around off and on. . .
Anyone know when the application has been released in previous years?

Originally Posted by mrawesome

Likewise, I am planning on going for this scholarship, so I'll be around off and on. . .
Anyone know when the application has been released in previous years?

Looks like end of April/beginning of May. I think you can sign up for an email-alert notifying you when the application cycle opens.

Originally Posted by donkeykong1

The NHSC scholarship program awarded 211 scholarships in 2010 to students preparing to become physicians (MD or DO), dentists (DDS or DMD), family nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives or physician assistants. Scholarships were awarded to 105 individuals studying to become physicians, both DO and MD. Osteopathic medical students received 42 of the scholarships awarded to medical students, accounting for 40 percent of total physician scholarships awarded.

source: http://lecom.edu/news-archive-articl...6/0/2820/20043

Careful with these stats -50% of 2010 was funded via the stimulus package. I don't know what the current funding status is, but the total number of scholarships could be more like 100.

That breakdown by specialty is fairly typical. It is also typically the case that 40-60% of the students fit into that vague NHSC euphemism for minority/impoverished -if your family ever received food stamps, you are 10% Cherokee, etc, it is worth proving that for the app. Applicant numbers have been increasing, something like 800/year was typical. That info comes from NHSC data on scholars submitted to Congress -play with google enough, you can find more.

IMHO, NHSC is only going to take so many students/specialty/region -that is, 15 med students from my state aren't going to get a scholarship. They will spread it around regionally, by specialty (ie MD/dental/etc), and will try to give them to students who seem genuinely committed to underserved care.

One of their metrics for success is scholar retention, so they don't want someone who sees this as a military commitment, I do this 4 years and I'm out. They want a career candidate (even if hardly anyone is). They don't want you to do this for the money.

I applied 2x for the scholarship, got it the second time. With my second application, I think I did a better job of demonstrating I had real-life experience with underserved communities and really wanted more of it. But it's likely just the stimulus package improving the odds that made the difference.

I was surprised to check the site and see the cycle is now open. It looks like the window is a lot smaller and the material must be in by May 8th, so jump on it!!! Best of luck everyone.