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8. MSLRP & The National Health Service Corps

8. MSLRP & The National Health Service Corps

The Michigan State Loan Repayment Program (MSLRP) and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (NHSC LRP) are similar programs in that they provide medical education debt relief to primary care providers that agree to serve in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), but the programs have some key differences. Providers can apply to both programs but may only participate in one. This section also includes links to other NHSC programs.

To be eligible to participate in either the MSLRP or the NHSC LRP, providers must:

  • Be U.S. Citizens.
  • Work in a federally-designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) for a minimum of two years.
  • Provide primary care in an outpatient setting to an ambulatory patient population.

To be eligible to participate in the MSLRP, providers must:

  • Work a minimum of 40 hours per week.
  • Be one of the eligible provider types listed in the Eligibility & Program Requirements
  • Work at not-for-profit practice sites.
  • Work for employers willing to make contributions to their loan repayment agreements (see the current MSLRP Update for details).
  • Consider that they will be more likely to be selected for loan repayment it they are employed at priority practice sites, which include:
    • Local Health Departments
    • State-funded Institutions - State Psychiatric Hospitals, Forensic Medicine Centers, CMH Agencies, State Correctional Facilities, State-funded Primary Care Clinics
    • Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and FQHC Look-Alikes
    • Critical Access Hospital (CAH) - Administered Primary Care Clinics
    • Certified Rural Health Clinics (CRHCs) Designated as Facility HPSAs
    • My Community Dental Centers

To be eligible for the NHSC LRP, providers:

  • May work fulltime or part-time.
  • May work at either ‘for-profit’ or ‘not-for profit’ practice sites.
  • Must be an eligible NHSC LRP provider per program requirements found on the NHSC LRP site
  • Must be employed at NHSC approved practice sites before applying for loan repayment.
  • Will be more likely to be selected for loan repayment if they are employed at approved practice sites with higher HPSA scores indicating more severe provider shortages. As of January 2014, the NHSC was targeting providers at sites with scores of 14 or more for loan repayment. However, information from the previous application cycle shows that providers at sites with scores of less than 16 were not awarded contracts.
  • Must realize that receiving NHSC LRP is a two-step process. First, the practice site must be approved, and then providers may apply for loan repayment. More information is available on the NHSC website at https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/

Links to Other NHSC Programs: