Scholars must
be engaged in full-time clinical practice of their profession directly upon
completing their training. Find the answers to your questions about beginning
your National Health Service Corps (NHSC) service commitment in the following
resources:
Full-time Clinical Practice
Providers must be engaged in full-time clinical practice of their profession.
A full-time clinical practice is defined as a minimum of 40 hours per
week. The practice will include hospital treatment coverage appropriate
to meet the needs of patients and to ensure continuity of care. For
all health professionals except obstetricians/gynecologists (OB/GYN),
at least 32 of the minimum 40 hours per week must be providing clinical
services in the ambulatory setting at the approved practice site during
normally scheduled office hours. For an OB/GYN practitioner, the majority
of the 40 hours per week (not less than 21 hours per week) is expected
to be providing ambulatory care services during normally scheduled office
hours.
Q: Can I work under a National Research Service Award (NRSA) fellowship
toward fulfilling my NHSC scholarship program service commitment?
A: No. The NRSA fellowship provision was eliminated in the NHSC legislation
of October 2002. NHSC Scholars who begin their service commitment after October 26, 2002
and are not already in an NHSC-approved NRSA fellowship must complete their NHSC
commitment in direct clinical care.
No more than 7 weeks (35 workdays) per year can be spent away from the
practice for holidays, illness, vacation, continuing professional education,
or any other reason. Although leave policies are the individual responsibility
of each employer, the NHSC will not count any leave time beyond 7 weeks
(35 workdays) per year toward fulfillment of the service obligation.
Licensure and Certification Requirements
Scholars must meet appropriate licensure and certification requirements
before beginning their service commitment. Due to the variety of practices
available and the national scope of the National Health Service Corps
program, you are encouraged to have the broadest scope of licensure
possible. Remember that States
exercise their power to protect the public health and safety by regulating
the practice of certain professions. Each State writes its own laws,
which results in some variation from State to State in the structure
and content of most laws. You can contact the State agency in the Physician
Assistant Licensing Contacts or the State Boards of Nursing Contacts
to obtain information on the current physician assistant and nursing
State laws and regulations.
Transfer Requests
The National Health Service Corps expects that the vast majority of
Scholarship Program recipients and Loan Repayment Program participants
will complete their service obligations at their originally selected
sites. However, experience has shown that despite best efforts and intentions,
the initial match between clinicians and sites may not work well.
Various factors may precipitate the need to change sites.
Suspension, Default, and Deferment
Under some conditions, NHSC Scholars can be granted suspension of service
commitment and can request deferments to complete specialized training.
Please review the Deferment
Information Bulletin (PDF)
for administrative procedures, conditions, and terms.
