Loan Repayment Programs

[mikel905]

If anyone could offer or point me in the direction of some information/guidance about loan repayment programs, I would really appreciate it.

What programs are out there?
How competitive are they? How much of your loans do they pay?
When do you apply?
Summary of programs, how they work, consensus opinion on them?
Any good threads discussing this topic?

Thanks in advance

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[free99]

NHSC (scholarship and LRP) - scholarship is extremely competitive, I've heard LRP is less so.
Indian health service scholarship
HPSP and HSCP military scholarships

Those are the big ones that are coming to mind, but I'm sure there are some state specific ones and other scholarships that I don't know about. All the info for all of these programs are online, so I won't bother repeating it here - you'll find it all if you google it.

 

[sjv]

Check out the list below:

 

[mikel905]

Thank you!

 

[Northwoods00]

If anyone could offer or point me in the direction of some information/guidance about loan repayment programs, I would really appreciate it.

What programs are out there?
How competitive are they? How much of your loans do they pay?
When do you apply?
Summary of programs, how they work, consensus opinion on them?
Any good threads discussing this topic?

Thanks in advance

My loans have been paid back through the National Health Service Corps. I also have several colleagues who take advantage of this program. If you are at a site with a high shortage score then funding is pretty certain. Where I work I haven't heard of anyone not getting the loan repayment.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/

 

[mikel905]

My loans have been paid back through the National Health Service Corps. I also have several colleagues who take advantage of this program. If you are at a site with a high shortage score then funding is pretty certain. Where I work I haven't heard of anyone not getting the loan repayment.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/

Thanks for the reply, that sounds great. You mention that "if you are at a site with a high shortage score"...I'm not sure I understand. Do they assign you to your site and there's a chance you'll end up somewhere without a high shortage score and you won't get the loan repayment / it's just the salary at that point?

How much of one's loans do they pay back?

Thanks again.

 

[jeffk805dent]

Thanks for the reply, that sounds great. You mention that "if you are at a site with a high shortage score"...I'm not sure I understand. Do they assign you to your site and there's a chance you'll end up somewhere without a high shortage score and you won't get the loan repayment / it's just the salary at that point?

How much of one's loans do they pay back?

Thanks again.

there will be other posters that know much more than me but as far as I know a score of 14 and above at any NHSC site qualifies for 50k for two years of service.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/


A question I have is that how difficult is to get these LRPs, I know the NHSC scholarship insanely competitive.

 

[Northwoods00]

Thanks for the reply, that sounds great. You mention that "if you are at a site with a high shortage score"...I'm not sure I understand. Do they assign you to your site and there's a chance you'll end up somewhere without a high shortage score and you won't get the loan repayment / it's just the salary at that point?

How much of one's loans do they pay back?

Thanks again.

No one assigns you to work at a site. Once you are working in a location with a high shortage area score you can then apply to join the National Health Service Corps, so the loan repayment doesn't start right away because you have to apply once you are already working in a shortage area. As someone else replied, I believe a score over 14 supports the decision to grant the initial $50K for loan repayment.

The following website can be used to look up health professional shortage scores:

http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/HPSASearch.aspx

Marshfield Clinic is based out of Wood County, WI - you can see their dental score is 26, the highest score possible.

The next link gives more information on HPSA scores:

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/hpsas/hpsaglossary.html

Keep in mind that clinics can not consider loan repayment as compensation. Fair and competitive compensation is paid in addition to any loan repayment without loan repayment being considered into compensation formula. Some dental students sign up for the NHSC while in dental school. I believe that program is much more competitive as it provides for tuition and a stipend for the student while in school and then the student has the obligation to work in at HPSA after graduation for a determined amount of time.

 

[Northwoods00]

there will be other posters that know much more than me but as far as I know a score of 14 and above at any NHSC site qualifies for 50k for two years of service.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/


A question I have is that how difficult is to get these LRPs, I know the NHSC scholarship insanely competitive.

From my experience and that of colleagues, if the Health Profession Shortage Area score is high enough then obtaining loan repayment is not difficult at all. Keep in mind though that there may only be certain times during the year when applications are accepted.

 

[jeffk805dent]

From my experience and that of colleagues, if the Health Profession Shortage Area score is high enough then obtaining loan repayment is not difficult at all. Keep in mind though that there may only be certain times during the year when applications are accepted.

sorry I meant to say how difficult is it to get these NHSC positions (through the LRP route). Are there like 20+ applicants per position or do many go unfilled like the IHS in New Mexico?

 

[Northwoods00]

sorry I meant to say how difficult is it to get these NHSC positions (through the LRP route). Are there like 20+ applicants per position or do many go unfilled like the IHS in New Mexico?

definitely not 20+ applicants per position, but certain times of year are more competitive such as leading up to Dental School graduation and Residency completion. I'm sure some NHCS/FQHC sites have long term vacancies but others are more competitive.