National Health Service Corps SEARCH Program – West Virginia

Year 06/07 (September 1, 2006- August 31, 2007)

SEARCH – Student/Resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health

The NHSC SEARCH Program for West Virginia provides stipends for health profession students and residents to train in under-served areas. The program is funded by the Bureau of Primary Care and administered jointly by the West Virginia University Office of Rural Health and the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health.

Federal Requirements for Applicants:

Students/Residents must be enrolled in one of the following programs: medicine, dentistry, dental hygiene, nurse practitioner, nurse-midwifery, graduate social work, physician assistant, or graduate clinical psychology and have completed a minimum of one year of their professional education. These students/residents must be interested in pursuing primary care in family or general medicine, psychology, social work, dentistry, dental hygiene, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, or pediatrics.

Program Requirements:

In addition to primary care clinical work, students/residents are required to participate in weekly interdisciplinary seminars held within the consortium. Travel may be required. Students/Residents are also required to participate in community projects, approved by the preceptor, site coordinator, campus faculty, and SEARCH advisory panel.

Stipend Awards:

Stipends are $75 for each day of practice in a rural community, for a minimum of 20 working days and a maximum of 100 working days per grant year.

Criteria:

The NHSC SEARCH Program for West Virginia does not discriminate based on race, sex, religion, or creed. Stipends are awarded to students/residents regardless of their university affiliation who are pursuing careers in primary care as a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, physician assistant, dentist, dental hygienist, social worker, or clinical psychologist. Medical and Dental students must have completed two years of their professional training. All applicants must be considered full time and in good standing with their respective programs.

The application process begins with the West Virginia Rural Health Education Partnerships (WVRHEP) Consortium site’s recommendation of an applicant. Student/Residents apply directly to the site coordinator in charge of the WVRHEP site of interest. A statewide advisory panel, consisting of representatives from communities and educational institutions across the state, meets quarterly to make final decisions on SEARCH Program awards.

All students/residents must have completed one year (medical and dental students two years) of their professional training. Preference is given to applicants demonstrating one or more of the following attributes:

1.) presently a NHSC scholarship recipient.

2.) has strong ties to a rural area (preferably in West Virginia) as evidenced by number of years in residency, presence of family ties in a rural locale, and/or history of work or community service within a rural locale,

3.) has demonstrated an interest in rural health, and/or

4.) has arranged a rural rotation at a WVRHEP site beyond the minimum of 20 days required.

Application Deadlines:

Application deadlines are September 1, December 1, March 1, and June 1. Applications must be received by the WVRHEP site coordinator at the site of interest two weeks before the deadline date:

Year 2006/07

Deadline Date Application Due to the Site

September 1, 2006 August 21, 2006

December 1 November 20

March 1, 2007 February 19, 2007

June 1 May 18

Applications are located on the internet:

http://www.wvrhep.org/searchstudentapp.doc

http://www.wvrhep.org/searchcommapp.doc

For more information contact:

Jacki Masi-Razmus

WVU Office of Rural Health

(304) 293-1783

email: jmasirazmus@hsc.wvu.edu

Opportunities with the National Health Service Corps:

1-800-221-9393 www.bphc.hrsa.gov/nhsc/