The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is a federal government program administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW). NHSC programs provide scholarships and student loan repayment to health care professionals in exchange for a service commitment to practice in designated areas across the country with a shortage of health care professionals. NHSC participants work at NHSC-approved sites located in and serving Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), which are communities with limited access to care.
Clinicians at NHSC-approved sites may be eligible to apply to one of the five NHSC programs, including the NHSC Scholarship Program (SP), NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program (S2S LRP), the NHSC Loan Repayment Program (LRP), the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program (SUD Workforce LRP), and the NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program (Rural Community LRP). Additionally the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program and the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program available for nurses.
Maps of federally-designated HPSAs in South Dakota are available on the South Dakota Office of Rural Health site.
To become a NHSC site, a facility must be one of the following types of facilities and meet NHSC requirements.
The following sites are eligible to become NHSC approved sites
- State Prisons
- Certified Rural Health Clinics
- Critical Access Hospital
- Community Mental Health Center (CMHC)
- State or Local Health Departments
- Community Outpatient Facilities
- Private Practice (Solo or Group)
- Mobile Units
- Free Clinic
- Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities
- Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)*
- FQHC Look-Alikes*
- American Indian Health Facilities: Indian Health Services Facilities, Tribally-Operated 638 Health Programs, and Urban Indian Health Programs (ITUs)*
- Federal Prison*
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Health Service Corps*
*Sites are automatically approved as long as they meet all NHSC site requirements and their respective program requirements.
There are many benefits to becoming an NHSC approved site including:
- Assistance in helping to attract and retain qualified and dedicated clinicians
- Utilization of the NHSC Job Center
- Participation in NHSC Virtual Job Fairs
- Networking with NHSC sites around the country
The application cycle for new sites opens once per year, typically in April, and applications must be submitted during the application cycle.
Sites that have been previously approved must recertify their site every three years.
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