NIH extramural loan repayment while in residency

[jejudo]

Are current residents eligible for the NIH loan repayment program? Or do you have to take additional dedicated research years? The criteria listed are 20 hours/week and 50% of time. I feel like I could put in 20 hours a week while still continuing my residency training.

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[Neuronix]

You'll probably need a letter from your institution guaranteeing at least 50% of your time for the duration of the grant. If you have a dedicated block during your residency or take time out of residency, that might be possible.

Edit: I should add that I do know a resident who got LRP during time out from residency he took to do a PhD. His residency of course was lengthened to compensate for the amount of time out he took.

 

[Fencer]

Most of these awards are given to faculty whose institutions guarantee they are doing 50% research. Note: federal employees with more than 50% time are not eligible (i.e.: VA employees with 5/8th or more contracts).

 

[strangeglove]

As long as you have an institutional official who can attest to your salary and > 1/2 time research status for at least 2 years, there is no administrative hurdle. However, if I was reviewing your application and I would ask myself the question "How would this help this candidate maintain a research career?" I wouldn't see it as necessary for a resident who is not missing out on any clinical earning potential and could very easily drop research after residency vs. a fellow in a research intensive fellowship who is missing out on clinical earning opportunities in order to do research. Remember that this is not a grant that is awarded based on the awesomeness of your research, but rather a way to incentivize early career researchers to choose research over more lucrative clinical work.