From Training to Practice

Transitioning from Training to Practice

Three months before you graduate, the NHSC will send you information that will guide your search for an NHSC-approved site where you will fulfill your NHSC service commitment.

Welcome to the next phase of your NHSC journey – transitioning from training to practice.

As you become one of more than 10,000 NHSC providers serving the underserved, you will receive timely communications, webinar invitations and helpful resources and tools in the coming months that will assist you in selecting an NHSC approved practice site for successful service. Begin your journey today by taking a look at a snapshot of all the things you will begin to receive soon in our Tip Sheet Transitioning from Training to Practice (PDF - 655 KB).

If you are a physician assistant, nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife, you must begin your service within nine months of graduation.

If you are a physician or dentist, you will receive information that will enable you to defer your service commitment until you have completed an approved residency or other postgraduate training.

Where Scholars Practice

Scholars choose where they will serve from a list of NHSC-approved sites in high-need Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) (PDF - 104 KB) across the nation.

Learn more about the types of NHSC-approved sites and check out our tip sheet on Disciplines, Designations and Your Future Service Site (PDF - 942 KB).

Selecting a National Health Service Corps Site

As an NHSC scholar, you will have the opportunity to choose from positions located at NHSC-approved sites in high-need areas. You and the NHSC site will be looking for a match that is right for you, the site and your family. See more resources to support your search in the tip sheet Finding a Site ... a Community ... a Home (PDF - 269 KB)

There are many important questions to ask yourself when selecting a practice site. Check out our tip sheet on Thinking About Placement. (PDF - 370 KB) The NHSC Jobs Center will help you identify NHSC-approved sites.

Because so much can change, we do not recommend you start your search for a position at an NHSC-approved site before you receive your placement package from the NHSC.

It is your responsibility to select sites that appeal to you and interview with them. The NHSC provides you with a listing of NHSC-approved sites with available jobs and helps you make arrangements for travel.

The NHSC also pays up to $1,200 to cover allowable site visit interview travel costs. Be sure to review our Top Ten Interviewing Tips (PDF - 441 KB), which will help you ace the interview.

Once you have identified current NHSC jobs of interest, forward your resume to the site and contact your Regional Advisor who will work with you and your prospective site(s) to facilitate a successful match.

In the rare instances where a Scholar has not secured a job at an NHSC-approved site within nine months of graduation, the NHSC will select the sites for interviews.

Once you have received a job offer from an NHSC-approved site where you want to fulfill your service commitment, submit the following documents to your advisor:

  • Copy of your job offer
  • Copy of your acceptance letter
  • Proof that you have passed all required exam(s)
  • Documentation supporting any changes to your name and/or notification of changes to your contact information
  • Start date verification letter
  • Copy of your unrestricted, discipline-specific state license. One-year provisional licenses are not acceptable
  • Copy of your National Practitioner Data Bank Report

During the relocation process, the NHSC provides support for eligible travel costs and the shipment of household goods.

Residency/Postgraduate Training

In the spring of the year of graduation, and each subsequent year of residency training, all physicians and dentists pursuing approved postgraduate training must request deferments to postpone their required NHSC service commitment until they have completed their specialized training.

Physician Deferments

NHSC Scholars who are physicians (MD or DO) must complete a residency training program in one of the primary care specialties:

  • Family Practice (3 years )
  • Internal Medicine (3 years)
  • Pediatrics (3 years)
  • Obstetrics-Gynecology (4 years)
  • Psychiatry (4 years )
  • Internal Medicine/Family Practice (4 years)
  • Internal Medicine/Pediatrics (4 years)

New deferments will not be granted for dual residencies other than internal medicine/family practice and internal medicine/pediatrics.

One-year osteopathic internships may be approved for deferment. If you plan to pursue this internship year, please provide a letter from your training program stating that the internship is for one year and is prior to entering residency training. Upon completion of the year internship, osteopathic physicians are required to enter and complete a residency program in one of the approved specialties.

Fellowships may be approved for deferment:

  • Child Psychiatry following Psychiatry (2 years)
  • Obstetrics/Gynecology following Family Practice (1 year)
  • Geriatrics following Family Practice or Internal Medicine (1 year)

The NHSC does not provide financial support (e.g., stipend, training expenses, etc.) while you are in postgraduate training.

NHSC Scholarship physicians will be in default of the scholarship contract and liable to pay penalties if they:

  • do not enter an approved postgraduate training program,
  • enter an unapproved postgraduate training program, or;
  • do not complete the approved postgraduate training.

Licensure Examination

The NHSC requires all physicians to pass all three parts of the medical licensing examination (USMLE or COMLEX) prior to completing their last year of training so that service can commence immediately upon completion of approved postgraduate training.

It is your responsibility to select a residency program that will adequately prepare you to sit for the USMLE or COMLEX and obtain the appropriate license to practice in the United States. You must notify the NHSC when you have successfully completed all three parts of the medical training examinations.

Dentist Deferments

Dentists who receive the NHSC Scholarship are not required to, but may elect to participate in, postgraduate training in:

  • General Practice Dentistry (1 year)
  • Advanced Education in General Dentistry (1 year)
  • General Pediatric Dentistry (2 years)
  • Public Health Dentistry (2 years)

If you decide not to participate in postgraduate training, you must begin service as a general practice dentist upon your graduation from dental school.

If you do pursue postgraduate training, you must notify the NHSC in the spring of your final year of dental school and then also submit a Deferment Request (see below).

The NHSC SP will not provide financial support (e.g., stipend, training expenses, board exam fees) while you are in an approved postgraduate dental training program.

NHSC Scholar dentists will be in default of the scholarship contract and liable to penalties, if they fail to either begin service as a general dentist at an NHSC-approved site or receive an approved deferment for postgraduate training after graduation from dental school.

Licensure Examination

Dental scholars are expected to take the appropriate exams at the earliest possible date. The NHSC requires all dentists to pass both parts of the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE Parts 1 and 2) prior to completing their last year of dental school or approved postgraduate training so that service can commence immediately upon completion.

To assure that dentists will have licensure in states with the greatest dental needs, NHSC reserves the right to determine which Regional or State clinical licensing exam the dental Scholar should take and pass prior to the Scholar’s service start date.

How to Request a Deferment

To request a deferment of service in order to attend a residency program or fellowship, you must submit a deferment request through the Customer Service Portal each year.

Scholars eligible to defer the service obligation (MD, DO, DDS, and DMD students) will receive information on deferment during the last year of medical or dental school and will be notified when the deferment request must be submitted.

Scholars in or applying to approved postgraduate training who do not submit a Deferment Request each year of residency training or fellowship may be considered to be in default of the NHSC Scholarship service obligation and subject to penalties.

When to Notify the NHSC

After the NHSC has approved your deferment request, please notify us via the Customer Service Portal if you:

  • Do not obtain a position in the postgraduate training program that the NHSC has approved
  • Change your address
  • Plan to switch residency programs
  • Plan to suspend training for maternity leave or other medical or personal reason.