2022 NHSC Scholarship Application

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cooliyak

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The application cycle is now open! I didn’t see a thread for this year specifically yet so I thought I’d make one.

I received the 4 year scholarship, did my time, and am in the process of transitioning to the loan repayment program for the rest of my loans. Let me know if you have any questions!

Edit: this thread isn’t about me answering questions. It’s a place for people to gather and talk about the application cycle. But I’m here and happy to answer questions!
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Last edited:
Is submitting the application as early as possible beneficial? Similar to applying to dental school?
 
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cooliyak said:
The application cycle is now open! I didn’t see a thread for this year specifically yet so I thought I’d make one.

I received the 4 year scholarship, did my time, and am in the process of transitioning to the loan repayment program for the rest of my loans. Let me know if you have any questions!

Edit: this thread isn’t about me answering questions. It’s a place for people to gather and talk about the application cycle. But I’m here and happy to answer questions!
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Could I PM you?
 
Could someone post this year's essay questions and their respective word/ character limits?
 
Everything you need to know is in the program guide:


But to answer your question, here is what the guide says:

“
Essays. Applicants are required to respond to the following three essay questions. Responses to essays must be uploaded as three separate documents, one document per essay. Each response should be limited to a 500-word count or less (about a half of an 8.5 x 11 page with spacing).

• Essay Question 1: The mission of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is to build healthy communities by supporting qualified health care providers dedicated to working in areas of the United States with limited access to care. With this mission, we know that patients often need health care providers to better understand them as a whole. This is particularly important among underserved populations receiving care. Please tell us what patient-centered care means to you and provide an example.

• Essay Question 2: NHSC clinicians provide care to underserved communities inurban and rural areas with limited resources. Please provide an example of when you have proposed an innovative solution to a challenging problem where you had limited
resources.

• Essay Question 3: Describe an experience in which you have contributed to thewell-
being of an underserved community and the impact/result of your contribution.
“
 
cooliyak said:
Everything you need to know is in the program guide:


But to answer your question, here is what the guide says:

“
Essays. Applicants are required to respond to the following three essay questions. Responses to essays must be uploaded as three separate documents, one document per essay. Each response should be limited to a 500-word count or less (about a half of an 8.5 x 11 page with spacing).

• Essay Question 1: The mission of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is to build healthy communities by supporting qualified health care providers dedicated to working in areas of the United States with limited access to care. With this mission, we know that patients often need health care providers to better understand them as a whole. This is particularly important among underserved populations receiving care. Please tell us what patient-centered care means to you and provide an example.

• Essay Question 2: NHSC clinicians provide care to underserved communities inurban and rural areas with limited resources. Please provide an example of when you have proposed an innovative solution to a challenging problem where you had limited
resources.

• Essay Question 3: Describe an experience in which you have contributed to thewell-
being of an underserved community and the impact/result of your contribution.
“
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
For the second essay question, does the example need to be related to underserved communities? I was thinking of writing about a challenging project as part of a class that fits the description of what the question is asking, but wanted to be sure if I could use that example!
 
Chicago_predental said:
For the second essay question, does the example need to be related to underserved communities? I was thinking of writing about a challenging project as part of a class that fits the description of what the question is asking, but wanted to be sure if I could use that example!
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I would guess that you can write it about anything. If you did have an example where it could be related to an underserved community that would probably be more in line with what they are looking for.
 
TheSweetTooth22 said:
I would guess that you can write it about anything. If you did have an example where it could be related to an underserved community that would probably be more in line with what they are looking for.
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True! I think ill start out by describing the class example but then tie it into how it mirrors working in underserved communities. Thanks 🙂
 
How competitive is the scholarship? The program guide offers up a 10% historical approval rate for new applicants. Are 9/10 people really being denied? How about for dental vs. medical students?
 
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I am a second year dental student. For the GPA can I put my dental school gpa (it is a lot better than the GPA from undergraduate where I received my bachelors). I also took multiple courses at different colleges. Should I condense all my transcripts into one PDF along with my dental school transcript? I only spent two years at the college where I got my bachelors so I don't have too many classes.
 
Thanks for starting this thread! I'm an incoming first year medical student and am thinking of applying. How does NHSC work with residency? I read in the guide that you have to go to an NHSC approved residency program. Is there a separate match process for NHSC scholars to residency? Are NHSC residency positions as good as some other places to get trained (like large universities)?
 
cupoftea16 said:
Thanks for starting this thread! I'm an incoming first year medical student and am thinking of applying. How does NHSC work with residency? I read in the guide that you have to go to an NHSC approved residency program. Is there a separate match process for NHSC scholars to residency? Are NHSC residency positions as good as some other places to get trained (like large universities)?
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The NHSC approves the discipline, they don’t have to approve individual residency programs nor do they offer their own. As long as your residency is one considered “primary care”, you apply the same as you would if you weren’t participating in the NHSC.
 
cooliyak said:
The NHSC approves the discipline, they don’t have to approve individual residency programs nor do they offer their own. As long as your residency is one considered “primary care”, you apply the same as you would if you weren’t participating in the NHSC.
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I had been wondering this as well!
 
Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Thank you so much for the clarification!

So, do you then fulfill the 2-4 repayment years after residency? And those repayment years are at an approve NHSC site in an underserved community, right?
 
cupoftea16 said:
Oh, that makes a lot more sense. Thank you so much for the clarification!

So, do you then fulfill the 2-4 repayment years after residency? And those repayment years are at an approve NHSC site in an underserved community, right?
Click to expand...
Yes, you fulfill your commitment after your residency is completed.

And yes, those repayment years are at an approved NHSC site.
 
Hey everyone, for those who have completed a diy post-bacc program, how should we fill out the gpa section? Should it be a cumulative gpa (undergrad + post-bacc) or just the post-bacc? According to the NHSC form, it states:

Please enter the cumulative GPA for your most recently completed undergraduate or graduate program. (For Pass/Fail or other alternate GPA options, select "non-standard" GPA below. Please upload the most recent undergraduate or graduate degree transcript (i.e. the transcript which reflects the entered GPA) on the Supporting Document page.

Just wanted to make sure I'm not entering in the wrong values. Any clarification would be much appreciated!
 
kavitykween said:
Hey everyone, for those who have completed a diy post-bacc program, how should we fill out the gpa section? Should it be a cumulative gpa (undergrad + post-bacc) or just the post-bacc? According to the NHSC form, it states:

Please enter the cumulative GPA for your most recently completed undergraduate or graduate program. (For Pass/Fail or other alternate GPA options, select "non-standard" GPA below. Please upload the most recent undergraduate or graduate degree transcript (i.e. the transcript which reflects the entered GPA) on the Supporting Document page.

Just wanted to make sure I'm not entering in the wrong values. Any clarification would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
I am planning on entering the GPA of my post bacc program since it is my most recent. Then I plan to upload a pdf document with my post bacc (my dental school prerequisites) and bachelors (my undergrad) unofficial transcripts on them just to show that I do have a bachelor's degree.

@kavitykween What did you mark for highest degree of education? I am not sure if I should just leave it at bachelor's or if I should change it to other.
 
How do you upload letters of recommendation to the application? Do your letter writers send you the letter to upload yourself? Or will the recommendation letters be confidential?
 
iluvmycat said:
How do you upload letters of recommendation to the application? Do your letter writers send you the letter to upload yourself? Or will the recommendation letters be confidential?
Click to expand...
They’re confidential! Once you get to that page, it’ll give you the chance to enter in your recommender’s names and email addresses. They’ll then get a link to submit the letters as a pdf (I believe?)!
 
How picky are they with word count lol I edited my essays with my school writing center, but one is at 525 words.
 
For those of you who have completed a formal or informal postbacc: are you uploading both your undergraduate transcripts as well as your post bacc transcripts?
 
penspinner said:
Did they say how long it should be? Should it be 500 words like the essays? This is news to me because no where on the application or guidelines did it state that we needed another essay 👀
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Im assuming since the other essays are 500 words max! From what the lady I spoke to said, if you filled out the disadvantaged form then you should write one
 
what documents do we have to put our ssn last #, discipline, etc? what documents do we not? thanks
 
cluelessdr said:
what documents do we have to put our ssn last #, discipline, etc? what documents do we not? thanks
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In the info Q&A session they had, they made it sound like the documents that needed them asked for them. If you find a better answer let me know
 
Has anyone else had difficulty uploading their transcripts onto the NHSC application? I'm attempting to upload my undergrad transcripts as a pdf, and it's about 2 pages long. According to the instructions, files cannot be larger than 5MB in size, and my transcripts are about 9MB. Is there any way that I can shrink the file? I was mailed my official transcripts and its 2 pages long, so I'm unsure about how to upload them. Any advice?
 
cluelessdr said:
what documents do we have to put our ssn last #, discipline, etc? what documents do we not? thanks
Click to expand...

Also, I read through the entire NHSC 2022-2023 guidelines online booklet and couldn't find this anywhere in the 'completing the application' section? Is this a requirement from years past?
 
You should be able to compress the PDF file. There are instructions on the Internet on how to do it if you google "How to compress a PDF file".
 
kavitykween said:
Also, I read through the entire NHSC 2022-2023 guidelines online booklet and couldn't find this anywhere in the 'completing the application' section? Is this a requirement from years past?
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i feel the same way. i read it also. im a reapplicant and i remember putting it on there, but i cant remember which ones
 
cluelessdr said:
i feel the same way. i read it also. im a reapplicant and i remember putting it on there, but i cant remember which ones
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Do you think our application would be disqualified if we did just put it on each document? Cause now I’m slightly paranoid lol if anyone can clarify this that would be amazing!
 
kavitykween said:
Do you think our application would be disqualified if we did just put it on each document? Cause now I’m slightly paranoid lol if anyone can clarify this that would be amazing!
Click to expand...
I would follow the instructions as closely as possible. I haven’t looked at the manual for this year’s application, so I don’t know if they are still requiring that information. However, in past years, I know some people who received the scholarship even though they forgot to put it on their documents, so it doesn’t seem to be too important. I would think that it would be a bigger deal if it is required and someone did not put it than if it is not required and you put it anyway. I think either way, you are safe.
 
Chicago_predental said:
I have not seen this either!
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It’s strange, because I was comparing last years booklet to this years! It was only mentioned in last years guideline underneath the ‘competing the application section’. However after inspecting the 2022-2023 manual I literally could not find anything about this! I even tried using ctrl+find and entering the exact words but nope!
 
if we are in dental school right now, do we have to submit our transcripts from our undergraduate program and also our dental school? im assuming they want our gpa from dental school when we have to type that in.
 
cluelessdr said:
if we are in dental school right now, do we have to submit our transcripts from our undergraduate program and also our dental school? im assuming they want our gpa from dental school when we have to type that in.
Click to expand...
Screen Shot 2022-04-28 at 11.50.42 AM.png

it says "from last degree earned." my last degree earned was my undergrad, but wouldnt it make sense to enter my current dental school gpa?
 
For the first essay it ask us what patient centered care means to us and to provide an example. Does the example need to be something we experienced or did personally or can it just be a hypothetical story that’s an example of patient centered care?
 
For the third essay it asks to describe an experience where I contributed to the well being of an underserved community and the impact/result of my contribution. Can this be a personal impact on a specific person from an underserved community or does it want me to explain an impact I had on an entire community as a whole?
 
Blikimore said:
For the first essay it ask us what patient centered care means to us and to provide an example. Does the example need to be something we experienced or did personally or can it just be a hypothetical story that’s an example of patient centered care?
Click to expand...

I believe it needs to be something that we’ve experienced/something personal.
 
Hi, does anyone know if the status of the letters of recommendations change once the recommenders have sent their letters in or does it stay as in progress? Thanks!
 
I have a question regarding transcripts. If I completed a post-baccalaureate program but its not a specific degree program, just Biomedical Sciences, should I upload that or just my undergraduate transcript?
 
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