Student/Resident Experiences And Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH)

The state-based Student/Resident Experiences And Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) program provides health professions students and residents with unique, hands-on primary care training with underserved populations in rural and urban settings.

The SEARCH program is funded through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and enables psychology students and residents to serve clinical rotations on multidisciplinary health care teams in underserved communities. Rotations are designed and implemented by state and local organizations. Currently, 28 states receive funding, and psychology interns and residents are eligible in 13 of these states. Those states are Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Texas and West Virginia.

Primarily working in Federally Qualified Health Centers in Health Professional Shortage Areas, SEARCH rotations are tailored to match participants’ interests with the resources and needs of the community-based practice where they serve. Clinicians in SEARCH learn strategies for providing health care to patients who speak a language other than English, who have limited reading skills and who come from a diversity of cultures. During the rotation, clinicians may also be exposed to inpatient care, home health, hospice and public health care.

To qualify for the SEARCH program, you must have started your training as a mental and behavioral health professional, which includes health service psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists and psychiatric nurse specialists. Students who have NHSC scholarships are given priority for the SEARCH program.

Information about the program can be found on the HRSA SEARCH Program site.