6.4) Can you tell me about Public Health Service scholarships?
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This article is from the Medical Education FAQ, by eric@wilkinson.com (Eric P. Wilkinson, M.D.)with numerous contributions by others.
6.4) Can you tell me about Public Health Service scholarships?
The Public Health Service offers a scholarship (The National Health
Service Corps, <http://bphc.hrsa.gov/nhsc/>) paying full tuition,
books, and supplies, and a monthly stipend, with the following
requirements:
1) You must enter a primary care-type of residency (medicine,
family med, peds) or at least something that's close (OB/GYN,
psych), or a residency combining two of the above fields. A main
limitation is that the residency not take more than 3 or 4 years.
After serving your commitment you can undergo further medical
training (i.e., fellowships).
2) You must serve one year in a federally-designated underserved
area of your choice for each year the NHSC paid your tuition
(minimum two years), be it an inner city (30% of sites) or a rural
cow town (70% of sites).
3) As of December 1998, the IRS has deemed ALL parts of the NHSC
scholarship as taxable, including tuition. So, if you go to a
school that costs $28,000 per year, taxes will leave you with about
$350 from your monthly $950 stipend. The NHSC has been trying to
get Congress to reverse the IRS's reading of the law, but to no
avail as of yet.
There are similar programs available through various state
governments and the Indian Health Service, some funded by the NHSC.
Physicians who have completed training in a primary care field are
eligible for Public Health Service positions, with opportunities for
loan repayment. Some feel that this may be a better choice, as you
are not locked into a primary care field without first going through
your medical school rotations. See the NHSC web site for more
information.
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