In School

On this page:

• Expenses Covered by an NHSC Scholarship
• Data Collection Worksheet
• New Scholars Conference
• Verification/Scholar Data Sheet
• NHSCurrent
• SEARCH
• Placement Cycle Preparation
• Preparing for the Big Dance
• Links & Resources

As an NHSC Scholar, you have embarked on a very worthwhile and life-changing voyage-providing health care to underserved people. The importance of helping to bring health care to the 50 million Americans who would otherwise go without cannot be overstated.

Once accepted as an NHSC Scholar, you will receive a "Welcome to the NHSC" letter and copy of your contract with us. You will also be assigned an NHSC Analyst-based on the location of your school-who can answer many of the questions you'll probably have and help guide you through the NHSC process.

Many of the scholarship rules and questions you may have are addressed in the Scholarship Bulletins. It's important to look at the Scholarship Bulletin released the year you were awarded your contract.

The NHSC Scholarship covers a wide range of expenses, so you can focus on school instead of stressing over how to pay for it. The scholarship covers:

• Tuition and eligible fees, paid directly to your school on your behalf:
• Eligible fees:
  • Academic Support Services
  • Administrative
  • Building Use or Facility
  • Campus Life
  • Computer Lab
  • Curriculum
  • Education
  • Health Services and Immunizations
  • Laboratory
  • Library
  • Matriculation
  • Processing
  • Recreation
  • Surcharge (when added by your school to your tuition)
  • Student Activities
  • Student Services
  • Technology
  • Tuition surcharge
  • University
• Twelve monthly stipend payments to help keep you afloat with life's day-to-day expenses
• Other Reasonable Costs (known as "ORCs")-through this benefit, we provide you with a once yearly payment to be applied to additional education expenses. ORCs are based on estimated costs submitted by your school, which may or may not cover all your required expenses. You will receive an ORC check with your first stipend payment (by the first week of November). Because this payment covers the entire school year, it's up to you to be smart about how you budget it. Here's what ORCs cover:
• Computer/PDA rental or purchase (but only if it's required for all students)
• Computer software-if it replaces all books and related course material (but only for dental students
• Clinical supplies
• Disability insurance (if not billed as part of tuition and fees)
• Educational material costs
• Graduation fees (if applicable)
• Health insurance (only if it's not billed as a fee-family members aren't eligible)
• Instruments
• Laboratory expenses
• Malpractice insurance (if not billed as part of tuition and fees)
• Microscope (rental or purchase-purchases must be accompanied by documentation that rental isn't available)
• National boards (medical and dental students only)
• Required books
• School ID cards/ID fees (if they're not billed as part of tuition and fees)
• Travel expenses for one clinical rotation
• Two sets of uniforms and name tags

Here's what ORCs don't cover:

• Attorney Fees
• Automobiles and Automobile Maintenance Expenses
• Certification Boards for non-MD/DO health professionals
• Class dues
• Dental Insurance (if separate from general health insurance)
• Educational Associations
• Financial Aid Trust Funds
• ID Maintenance
• Late Charges
• Life Insurance
• Loan Fees
• National Boards (part III) for medical students
• Parking Fees
• Penalty Fees for overextension in the Distance Learning Programs
• Personal Laundry
• Post office box rental
• Refundable Property Deposit
• Residency Interviews
• Room and Board Expenses
• Student Association/Unions
• Yearbook

The Data Collection Worksheet (DCW) is what your school will use to document ALL the expenses that qualify under the terms of your Scholarship. Here are some hints to help understand your ORC:

• Expenses reflect the amounts for ALL students within the same discipline/program and class year
• In other words, if ALL students won't incur a particular expense in a category, that expense will not be included
• Amounts are based on the least expensive means of satisfying the educational requirement
• The tuition and fees are the amount charged for ALL students within the same discipline/program and class year
• Alert your school's billing office that only items listed on the RIGHT SIDE of the DCW should be billed, and NOTHING from the left-hand side

Once your NHSC Scholarship support begins, you must be enrolled in school full time on an ongoing basis until you graduate. The only exception is if you take an approved leave of absence, which the NHSC must also approve ahead of time. Your NHSC Scholarship funding is limited to 4 years. Even if you only receive funding for part of a school year, that still counts as 1 full year. If you have to retake a class, the NHSC will only consider you full time if that class is taken in addition to a full course load. Sometimes you may think, “Why don’t I get ahead of the game and take a few courses over the summer?” Remember, however, that you may jeopardize your full-time scholarship status during a future semester, which would make you ineligible for any scholarship support (tuition and stipend).

As you know by now, the NHSC Scholarship requires a very serious commitment on your part. After graduation, you must work in a HPSA (Health Professions Shortage Area) for 1 year for each full or partial year of support you received from the NHSC. The minimum service obligation is 2 years; the maximum is 4. We’ll also ask you to put your money where your mouth is and sign a Certification document confirming your flexibility to work anywhere in the US and its territories.

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Your NHSC Ambassador is here to help. NHSC Ambassadors are volunteer faculty members who nurture and mentor Scholars to help you obtain the skills and experiences necessary to practice in underserved communities. This person is someone who can be your greatest advocate at your school.

New Scholars Conference

Every fall, the New Scholar Conference rolls out the red carpet to new members of the NHSC family who have recently been awarded NHSC Scholarships. The conference is an excellent chance for you to learn the ins and outs of the NHSC, so you'll walk away with a much better understanding of what's expected of you and how important the service is that you'll perform in underserved communities. Because there's so much information to digest - and it's a great opportunity to meet other Scholars, alumni and staff you'll work with - ATTENDANCE IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.

Some of the topics to be covered include:

• So I'm an NHSC Scholar, what do I do now? Provides answers to many of the questions you may have about the NHSC and your scholarship commitments
• SEARCHING for the Right Experience? Gives an introduction to many states' culturally competent, community-based training programs, NHSC SEARCH
• Benefits of Networking Beyond Your Discipline and Program
• Finding the Right Residency and Getting Selected
• Making a Difference in the Health of a Community

The conference is a great opportunity to bond with fellow Scholars, hear former Scholars talk about their NHSC experiences, and talk to NHSC Ambassadors and Analysts.

Verification/Scholar Data Sheet
To make sure everything is on the straight and narrow, twice a year we send a verification letter to your school confirming you're still eligible for scholarship support. Remember, if you change either your school or course of study, you must tell us in writing and include a verification of acceptance/good standing from your new school or program. Also, you will receive a Scholar Data Sheet that you fill out to confirm that all your personal information we have on file — such as Social Security number, contact information, and academic status — is accurate. Not receiving either of these forms could result in suspension of your scholarship support.

NHSCurrent
Sent to your e-mail inbox each month, the NHSCurrent is an online newsletter that helps keep you up to speed on pertinent NHSC-related information. Chock full of suggestions, reminders, and even a touch of inspiration, think of the Current as a vehicle to help maximize your NHSC experience.

SEARCH
Looking for a professional career-building experience that provides culturally diverse, hands-on, primary care training with interdisciplinary health care teams in underserved rural and urban areas? If so, SEARCH (Student/Resident Experiences And Rotations in Community Health) is an important program to consider.

• Enables you to learn about culturally competent, community-responsive health care through the NHSC's network of primary care associations and primary care offices
• Gives you the opportunity to improve your primary health care skills by working with mentors
• Is currently offered in 22 states and U.S. territories

If you'd like to find out how SEARCH clinicians are making a difference in communities across the U.S., take a look at SEARCH success stories on the NHSC Web site.

Placement Cycle Preparation
If you are an NHSC Scholar who’s not yet in the placement cycle but wants to be prepared when that day comes, there are a few things you can do now.

Skills Inventory
Working with a mentor or someone else at your school or residency, develop a comprehensive list of skills you will need when you begin practicing in an underserved area. Once you have completed this list, go through it item by item, and determine what you need to develop beyond your current level of knowledge and expertise and how you will accomplish this.

Brush Up on a Second Language
Brush up on your foreign language skills. If you don’t already speak a second language, it’s in your best interest to learn one because it makes you more marketable to sites (since the number of people whose first language isn’t English continues to grow in the U.S.). There are a variety of ways you can work on your language skills:

• Take a course at a community college
• Go to the public library and check out language tapes
• Check out sources on the Internet

Take Part in a SEARCH Experience
The Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) program provides health professions students and residents with opportunities to work on interdisciplinary health care teams. Currently, 20 states and U.S. territories offer NHSC SEARCH programs, extending a unique, hands-on, primary care training experience working with people in underserved rural and urban areas. As a SEARCH participant, you will train in culturally diverse community-based systems of care; work with patients and communities to help them reach beneficial health decisions; learn about culturally competent, community-responsive health care; and gain skills in delivering primary health care services by working with mentors.

Prepare Your Resume
Because your job search may be very competitive, make your resume stand out from the rest. For assistance in preparing a resume, check out "Expert Resumes for Health Care Careers," by Wendy S. Enelow and Louise M. Kursmark (published by JIST Works).

Understand the Match Process
NHSC Scholars are required to serve in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) of greatest need. HPSAs are urban or rural areas experiencing shortages of primary medical care, dental, and/or mental health providers (for more detailed information check out http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/hpsacrit.htm). Need is determined by using the HPSA designation score. These scores are indicated on the NHSC Opportunities List.

Each year, HPSA scores are determined for NHSC Scholars in the placement cycle based on sites’ demand for health care providers.

Because Scholars must serve in areas of greatest need, not all NHSC vacancies are approved practice sites for NHSC Scholars. If you are an NHSC Scholar looking for an approved practice site, you must select the "NHSC Scholarship Opportunity" option. This option will display only the approved practice sites for NHSC Scholars. The words "this site eligible for a NHSC Scholar" will appear in red on the site data form that appears when you click on a vacancy.

The identification of NHSC-approved practice sites for NHSC Scholars is an ongoing process, and the listing is updated weekly. However, NHSC Scholars should pursue employment at sites that interest them as soon as possible, because there will be fewer sites from which to choose as the cycle progresses.

The sites on our list are not exclusive to NHSC Scholars but are on our list because they have a vacancy to fill. Non-NHSC clinicians may use our list to obtain potential employment, so you should be aware that you may be competing for these opportunities with non-NHSC clinicians.

When you are in the placement cycle, you will be contacted by someone from the NHSC Recruitment Training and Support Center (RTSC). RTSC staff is available to help Scholars identify sites and arrange interviews. Additionally, they are responsible for keeping the NHSC vacancy list up to date. When you enter your match cycle, you should be proactive in your search for a site and not take anything for granted, since you will need to put your best foot forward and market yourself to rise to the top of the pile of resumes and interviewees.

When it is time to interview, you will be able to use a new online process for Scholars to request site visit travel. Additionally, a Scholar placement conference is held each year that gives Scholars in the match cycle the opportunity to meet and discuss potential job opportunities with clinic staff. During the conference, you will attend sessions and meet NHSC and contractor staff who will provide you with resources to assist in the site selection process.

Dental Scholars
If you are a dental Scholar, you need to think about a few additional things that will impact your match process. You may decide you want to do a residency program before you begin your service obligation. If this is the case, you will need to check out the Deferment Information Bulletin (ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/nhsc/members/2005-deferment-info-bulletin.pdf) applicable to you. The most important issue to consider is where you will take your licensing boards, since they are regional- or state-based exams. Before you schedule your exams, take a look at the listing of dental vacancies and where they are located. You need to be mindful of where the opportunities exist and what boards will be acceptable for licensure in those states.

Preparing for the Big Dance
Before G-Day — G as in Graduation — arrives, there are several things you should do to prepare for your debut of providing health care to underserved communities. Here are a few suggestions:

• Polish your resume: Highlight your skills, training, achievements, and anything else that will make you shine in the eyes of a prospective employer
• Practice interviewing techniques: bone up on skills such as researching the site you're interviewing with, preparing for questions likely to be asked, keeping responses concise, and maintaining eye contact
• Dress to kill: make a small investment in your Sunday's best that screams out "SUCCESS!!"