Information on the National Health Service Corp

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is a federal program housed in the Bureau of Health Professions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NHSC has both a scholarship and loan repayment program for eligible health professionals in exchange for health care in designated underserved areas. In recent years, psychologists have participated in the loan repayment program.

The Safety Net bill recently signed by President Bush allows individual that will pursue a doctorate in psychology to apply for the NHSC scholarship program. However, the changes in the law take some time before they go into effect and it is unknown now to what extent the Bureau of Health Professions will include psychology students in the scholarship program.

Participants of both the scholarship and loan repayment programs are placed into health professional shortage areas. Psychologists are placed in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas (MHPSAs) as designated by the U.S. Office of Shortage Designation. There are over 900 MHPSAs across the United States and its territories. Psychologists can contact health facilities that are designated as MHPSAs for a placement or work with a health facility in underserved areas to get a designation as a MHPSA and then be hired.

As previously stated, psychologists are currently eligible for the loan repayment program. To qualify for the loan repayment program you must:

Be a fully trained doctoral level clinical or counseling psychologist
Be free of judgment lines arising from federal debt
Have no other existing service commitment
Serve full time (40 hours a week) in the clinical practice of your profession
Commit to serve a minimum of two years in a professional shortage area Have U.S. citizenship with a valid, unrestricted license and / or certificate for the state where you plan to practice.

The benefits of participating in the NHSC loan repayment program are:

Minimum repayment during the required initial two-year contract is $25,000 per year.
You may extend your loan repayment beyond two years, one year at a time, to the extent that you have unpaid qualifying education loans and serve at an eligible site.
One-year extensions are awarded for a maximum of $35,000 per year.
A payment of 39 percent of total loan repayment is given to assist with tax liability. The state or community for which you work determines salary and benefits package.

Some Helpful Links:

To find out more information about the NHSC, you can check out the following website:
National Health Service Corps

In addition to help you locate underserved communities (MHPSAs) which are in search of a mental health professional you can check the following website:
Opportunities List

If you are interested in getting an area designated as a MHPSA you can check the following website:
Shortage Designation Branch