How do u search for med., eco. and edu. disadvantaged areas ?

[kabtq9s]

I actually have 2 questions

1.
on one of my apps it asks me if I live in an area that is Medically disadvantaged or not?

I live in Grand Prairie, Tx I looked it up in http://muafind.hrsa.gov/index.aspx and it gave me this



Under type it says, MUA which is (Medically undeserved Area)
So do I just tell them .. YES.. or do i have to dig in the CT ###### which I have no idea what it means or how to look it up !!!

2.
Another question asks me if I have worked or volunteer in a medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged area

How do I look that up ? is there a search engine for economically and educationally disadvantaged areas ??!!

I just don't understand why they have to make it so complicated

================================
update 12/21/09

just for the records, I found the MUA list for Texas http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/CHS/hprc/MUAlist.shtm

[mybubbles14]

Originally Posted by kabtq9s

I actually have 2 questions

Another question asks me if I have worked or volunteer in a medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged area

How do I look that up ? is there a search engine for economically and educationally disadvantaged areas ??!!

I just don't understand why they have to make it so complicated

I'm not sure about your first question...

I remember coming across a list that showed all of the medically underserved areas for Illinois when I was researching doing one of those scholarship programs where you commit to serve in an area following your residency. I can't remember how I got to it, although I think it was definitely on the state website but from a link associated with the scholarship/loan payback website. Does the application ask you for the exact code? If it doesn't I doubt they expect you to be so specific. I answered yes to the second question on some applications, but I didn't bother looking up all of that info. I just knew I was working in the poorest city in the state so I checked yes...

Is this for the Howard app??? If so...I definitely don't think they expect you to be so specific such as to look up the codes and everything. It just says please explain/briefly describe

[kabtq9s]

Originally Posted by mybubbles14

Is this for the Howard app??? If so...I definitely don't think they expect you to be so specific such as to look up the codes and everything. It just says please explain/briefly describe

yes it is Howard... actually the "please explain/briefly describe" is the problem !

if you filled out this application, please share with me what you put so i can get an idea

[mybubbles14]

Originally Posted by kabtq9s

yes it is Howard... actually the "please explain/briefly describe" is the problem !

if you filled out this application, please share with me what you put so i can get an idea

I didn't grow up in one so I didn't answer that question (I would imagine you should just describe the area that you lived though, if you want to throw in facts and figures I'm sure that's fine)...but I worked in a couple inner city hospital that served disadvantaged populations. I really just described my experience in depth ie. what it was, what I did, what I learned etc. I looked at it as an additional essay question and opportunity to describe my experience and interests. I used it as an outlet to tie in my interest for working in underserved areas and how it incited a heightened awareness of how drastic the health/healthcare disparities are among certain communities...

Soo yeah, don't read into it too much. Just describe why you checked yes. They are really big on helping individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds and individuals who fit in line with their mission of addressing healthcare disparities and eventually working in underserved areas. Those two questions are just their way of assessing if you fit into either of those categories and to gauage your level of exposure/awareness to medically underseved areas.

[theWUbear]

I can't understand those tables with the CT numbers for the life of me. My situation is that I have been doing HIV research with a largely (>90%) minority population in Newark, NJ. Now, just because Newark is educationally/economically disadvantaged, does not mean it is necessarily underserved medically. There are at least three major hospitals in the city. The hrsa website says there are 70 areas of health care shortage in Essex County, NJ. About 50 of them are in "Essex Service Area" - which obviously isn't a city. I don't want to be accused of lying or being incorrect when I apply to Howard or anywhere else that asks this question. If being "for the most part correct" is OK, I would be able to say that this list certainly shows places in the greater Newark area. Am I safe, or should I make sure?

[mybubbles14]

Originally Posted by theWUbear

I can't understand those tables with the CT numbers for the life of me. My situation is that I have been doing HIV research with a largely (>90%) minority population in Newark, NJ. Now, just because Newark is educationally/economically disadvantaged, does not mean it is necessarily underserved medically. There are at least three major hospitals in the city. The hrsa website says there are 70 areas of health care shortage in Essex County, NJ. About 50 of them are in "Essex Service Area" - which obviously isn't a city. I don't want to be accused of lying or being incorrect when I apply to Howard or anywhere else that asks this question. If being "for the most part correct" is OK, I would be able to say that this list certainly shows places in the greater Newark area. Am I safe, or should I make sure?

well, if the question says have you had experience with either of the 3 and you know 2/3 fit FOR SURE then that still sounds like you could answer the question no?