The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is committed to improving the health of the Nation's underserved:
- Uniting communities in need with caring health professionals
- Supporting communities' efforts to build better systems of care
The NHSC provides comprehensive team-based health care that bridges geographic, financial, cultural, and language barriers. We will not stop until all Americans, everywhere, have access to quality health care, especially for health issues that have the highest racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in treatment success. HIV/AIDS, mental health, dental care, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, childhood and adult immunizations, and infant mortality.
Because the NHSC is part of the "access agency" - the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) - we work closely with other HRSA bureaus and programs to recruit primary care clinicians for communities in need.
Through our combined efforts, we are seeking to provide access to care for upwards of 50 million Americans who might otherwise do without.
Our strategies for achieving our goal include:
- Forming partnerships with communities, States, educational institutions, and professional organizations.
- Recruiting caring, culturally competent clinicians for communities in need.
- Providing opportunities and professional experiences to students through our Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs and our SEARCH (Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health) program.
- Establishing systems of care that remain long after an NHSC clinician departs.
- Shaping the way clinicians practice by building a community of dedicated health professionals who continue to work with the underserved even after their NHSC commitment has been fulfilled.