Step 1: Prepare for Nurse Corps Service

Nurse Corps Scholarship Program scholars must begin employment at an eligible Critical Shortage Facility with either a mental health or primary care Health Professional Shortage Area score of 14 or higher within nine months of graduation.

On this page

• Nurse Corps Transition to Service process
• Communicating with Nurse Corps
• Ask a question
• Review your service commitment
• Understand your clinical service requirements
• Understand Critical Shortage Facilities (CSF)
• Understand HPSA scores and how they affect your service obligation
• Suspensions, waivers, and deferments

Nurse Corps Transition to Service process

Your employment search process and converting you from student/training to a licensed clinician working toward your service obligation is officially referred to as the Nurse Corps Transition to Service process. A regional analyst is assigned to provide administrative support throughout this process to ensure you successfully transition into your service obligation. However, you are responsible for communicating with potential employers and obtaining a job offer.

Follow this Nurse Corps Transition to Service step-by-step guidance to successfully conduct your employment search and comply with all program requirements.

To prepare for service, you must:

1. Communicate with your assigned analyst using the BHW Customer Service Portal.
2. Review your Nurse Corps service commitment.
3. Review your practice hour requirements.
4. Understand Nurse Corps-approved sites.
5. Understand Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) scores and how they impact your service obligation.

Communicating with Nurse Corps

• As a scholar, you will get a message in the BHW Customer Service Portal notifying you of the assigned Question (ID#) that you will use for all employment-related correspondence.
• You'll receive alerts from noreply@hrsa.gov to your personal email whenever you get a new message in the portal.
• Use the Question (ID#) in the BHW Customer Service Portal to contact an NC regional analyst. They will support you, track your job search progress, and answer any job-related questions during your Transition to Service process.

Ask a question

Note: If you have other questions regarding tuition, stipends, or post-graduate training, go to Ask a Question in the BHW Customer Service Portal.

To communicate directly with an analyst using the Question (ID#):

1. Go to Activities/Activity Type/Question (ID#).

2. At the bottom of the page, select Contact Us to directly reply to your analyst.
3. Also use the BHW Customer Service Portal to update your personal contact information, and upload employment documents.

Review your service commitment

• Start working at a Critical Shortage Facility (CSF) within nine months of graduation or the end of your training, as required by your NC contract.
• Make sure the CSF has a mental health or primary care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) score of 14 or higher.
• Consult the Nurse Corps Application and Program Guidance (APG) (PDF - 546 KB) to understand your service commitment, eligible site types, work hour requirements, financial responsibilities, and legal obligations.
• You may be employed at multiple work sites if they are within a single network or employer. All sites must be active Nurse Corps sites with a primary care or mental health HPSA of 14 or higher.

Understand Your clinical service requirements

• Full-Time: Work at least 32 hours per week, with a minimum of 26 hours dedicated to clinical services or direct patient care at the approved site.
• Part-Time: Work between 16 and 31 hours per week. Note that part-time service (less than 32 hours a week) will lengthen your service period.
• If you start full-time or part-time and wish to switch, you can request this change through the BHW Portal by selecting “Ask A Question.”

Understand Critical Shortage Facilities (CSF)

• A CSF is a health care facility with a significant shortage of nurses, located in or serving a primary care or mental HPSA.
• All eligible CSF sites are listed in our database and marked as “Nurse Corps-Approved” sites.

Understand HPSA scores and how they affect your service obligation

• HPSA scores: These scores indicate how much a health area needs professionals. They range from 0 (lowest need) to 26 (highest need) and can change over time. They are set in collaboration with states and counties.
• HPSA categories: There are three types—primary care, dental, and mental health.
• Finding HPSA scores:
  • Use HPSA Find: Go to Tools and select "Shortage Area by Address" to search for scores.
  • Use the Health Workforce Connector: Enter the site’s location and click Search. Then, under the Sites tab, choose a site to view its HPSA scores.
• Nurse Corps requirements: To fulfill your service obligation, your site must have a mental health or primary care HPSA score of 14 or higher.

Suspensions, waivers, and deferments

If you can’t start your service as planned:

1. Notify your analyst immediately
   Let your regional analyst know right away if you can’t begin service.
2. Submit your request
   You must submit requests for suspensions, waivers, or deferments yourself. Your assigned regional analysts cannot submit these requests for you. Use the BHW Customer Service Portal and include all required medical, education, and financial information. Check the Nurse Corps Scholarship Application Program Guide for details on required documentation.
   Types of requests:
   • Suspensions
     • Medical or personal hardship
     • Parental
     • Call to Active Duty in the Armed Forces
   • Waiver
     • Granted only in extreme hardship cases and is rarely approved.
   • Deferments for post-graduate training or residency
     • You can request up to an 18-month deferment to complete approved post-graduate training or residency.
     • After finishing your residency, you have three months to start employment.
     • To request a deferment, upload an official letter from your residency director, including the program's start and end dates.

Note: If you complete post-graduate training at an eligible Critical Service Facility in a HPSA with a score of 14 or higher, you will get service credit and don’t need to request a deferment.

Contact us

Call 1-800-221-9393
(TTY: 1-877-897-9910) M – F, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. ET
(except federal holidays)
Email us or GetHelp@hrsa.gov
BHW Customer Service Portal, select Ask a Question