Scholarship in exchange for working in an underserved/rural area?

[GeniusofLove]

Hello all,
I have heard about a full-tuition scholarship that requires several years spent post-residency in an area underserved by physicians.
Do any of you have information about this particular scholarship, or something like it?
Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[smq123]

Hello all,
I have heard about a full-tuition scholarship that requires several years spent post-residency in an area underserved by physicians.
Do any of you have information about this particular scholarship, or something like it?
Thanks.

The NHSC (National Health Service Corps) scholarship. It's mostly for physicians (and other health professionals) willing to serve in rural areas, although they'll ask if you're interested in helping with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, INS, and the jail system.

The scholarship specifies that you MUST work as a primary care physician (family med, internal med, peds, or psych). Therefore, you must do a primary care residency. If you want to subspecialize, you'll have to wait until after you've paid back your service. If, God forbid, you change your mind during med school and try to match in a non-primary care residency, you will owe the government so much money, you would have been better off just taking out loans.

Good luck trying to apply for it - it's super competitive.

 

[DoctorFunk]

Think carefully about this program. I applied as an entering first year student and made it to the interview but did not get the scholarship (thank God). At the time I was absolutely convinced that I would never want to enter anything but primary care, but found myself attracted to nothing but subspecialties during my first year of med school. If I had received that scholarship, I would probably be cursing my youthful ignorance right now and trying to figure out ways of getting out of it (very expensive!) or biding even more time before entering my chosen specialty.

 

[Natatiap]

How was the interview for this scholarship? What types of questions were asked?

 

[lilnoelle]

Most states also offer their version of the loan. I'm currently using Kansas Medical student loan, and am about to back out of it. Luckily, as long as I do so before the end of my M1 year, there is no penalty. I'm not opposed to primary care, but I don't want to work hard for four years and not have the choice of what I want to do.
Something to think about, NHSC (I'm almost certain) and most states also offer to pay back your loans after residency if you commit to them for a certain amount of time. So you will end up with the same result (less whatever interest builds up on your loan) and be able to chose the residency and specialty you really want, risk free.

 

[smq123]

Something to think about, NHSC (I'm almost certain) and most states also offer to pay back your loans after residency if you commit to them for a certain amount of time. So you will end up with the same result (less whatever interest builds up on your loan) and be able to chose the residency and specialty you really want, risk free.

No such luck when it comes to the NHSC. The NHSC Loan repayment/forgiveness program is only available to primary care physicians. So you can't choose your residency even then.

 

[Hayden2102]

Just for interest's sake, in Australia we have a program called Bonded Medical Places. This system is where the government pays for you to attend medical school, and in return, you sign a contract in which you agree to work in a rural area or area of "workforce shortage" for six years once you have finished your specialist training. They typically go to the low end of the cohort in each medical school.

A second system, Medical Rural Bonded Scholarships, involves the same as the above, but a $AU22,000-a-year scholarship attached to it. There are typically 3-4 of these per medical school, and they go to the highest-ranked applicants, whoever picks them up first. Not everyone wants to work in rural areas so it's not for everyone.

Keeping in mind that the government pays almost all our uni fees anyway, and the remainder we get to pay back once we start working

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Most states also offer their version of the loan. I'm currently using Kansas Medical student loan, and am about to back out of it. Luckily, as long as I do so before the end of my M1 year, there is no penalty. I'm not opposed to primary care, but I don't want to work hard for four years and not have the choice of what I want to do.
Something to think about, NHSC (I'm almost certain) and most states also offer to pay back your loans after residency if you commit to them for a certain amount of time. So you will end up with the same result (less whatever interest builds up on your loan) and be able to chose the residency and specialty you really want, risk free.

I am from noelle's state, and I heard about KU's program when I was up there. "Underserved" in Kansas, though, means 102/105 counties. It also provides a stipend if memory serves. We have a similar program at OU, but it is only for half of the money and pretty much blows.

I think that the overall perception is that you will make your money back if you simply take loans out. It is also commonly held that a pre-MS 1 is not adequately qualified to commit to an underserved area or to any particular specialty. It would really be better if they would instead go to a loan repayment program that you enroll in after you've at least matched.

 

[MadameLULU]

There's also a forum to talk about the scholarship: http://drslounge.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=179

 

[lilnoelle]

No such luck when it comes to the NHSC. The NHSC Loan repayment/forgiveness program is only available to primary care physicians. So you can't choose your residency even then.

Yeah, the states are the same way, what I meant was, when you get to your fourth year, you can decide what you want to do as a residency, and if it happens to be primary care, you can still get the loan repaid, where if you make a commitment to primary care and change your mind in your third or fourth year, you can't choose your residency unless your willing to pay for it.

The Kansas loan does have a stipend, $1500 a month. Very nice. The interest rate if you do not come through with the deal is 15% (which is small in comparison to the NHSC rate) but you have to pay it back in ten years, which would be pretty difficult considering the amount of the loan and the high interest rate that compiles on it.

 

[Mr. Whiskers]

Hello,
I am an MS-III and in the National Health Service Corps scholarship program.
To find out more about the program, visit http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/

You can receive the scholarship for a maximum of 4 yrs and a minimum of 2 yrs. In return you owe the government 1 yr of service for each yr you receive funding. Not only is your tuition paid for, but you are paid a monthly stipend of about $1,200 and receive additional money to cover other costs such as insurance, boards, etc. I disagree that the scholarship is super-competitive, as every 1 in 8 students who interviews receives a scholarship. To get an interview, you fill out a multiple choice application which is relatively straightforward.

As someone already said, you must do a residency in Peds, Ob/Gyn, Med, Psych, or Fam Med. Near the end of your residency you apply for job openings listed by the NHSC in underserved areas (including IHS and Prisons). About 70% of the sites are rural, and 30% are urban. Speaking spanish will help you with placement.

The National Health Service Corps and some states also have loan repayment programs that can be applied to during residency. NHSC has more service sites available for loan repayment recipients than scholarship recipients.