Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-27-098
- Eligibility
- Project director
- Scholarships & costs
- Clinical sites
- Partnerships & priorities
- Program activities & postbaccalaureate programs
Eligibility
Do we need to be fully accredited to apply?
No. Applicants must have at least preliminary or provisional accreditation at the time they submit their application.
Are PA (Physician Assistant) programs eligible for this grant?
No. This program is only available to public institutions of higher education located in the top quartile of states with a projected primary care provider shortage, for the purpose of training medical students.
Are current MSE grant recipients eligible to apply for this funding opportunity?
No. Entities currently receiving MSE funding under HRSA-23-124 or HRSA-24-074 are not eligible for this competition.
Can affiliated institutions submit separate applications?
Yes, if each institution has its own EIN (Employer Identification Number). If institutions share an EIN, only one application will be accepted — specifically, the last on-time submission received. You may not submit more than one application per EIN.
Project director
Who can serve as Project Director, and can there be more than one?
HRSA recognizes only one Principal Investigator/Project Director per grant. Co-Project Directors are not allowed. The Project Director must be a board-certified physician employed by the applicant organization and must dedicate at least 20% of their time to grant activities (this time may be in-kind or funded).
Does the Project Director need a specific specialty certification?
No. The Project Director must be board-certified, but no specific specialty is required.
Scholarships & costs
How should we determine the number of scholarships to offer?
HRSA requires that scholarships are intended for students planning to specialize in primary care. Your institution can determine quantity based on the need and enrollment size.
Are there restrictions on how scholarship funding can be distributed over the grant period?
Yes. Awards must be made annually, across the period of performance. You cannot award scholarship funding to cover the entire five-year period at once.
What costs are unallowable under this funding opportunity?
Unallowable costs include construction, patient services, and international travel. You can find additional examples in the Allowable and Unallowable Costs and Activities (PDF - 1 MB) section, as well as in the HHS Grants Policy Statement and the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Can other funding sources be used to meet cost-share/match obligations?
Yes. Foundation funding received by the institution for medical education purposes can be used to meet cost-share/match obligations.
Clinical sites
What are the requirements for a clinical training site to be listed in the application?
All clinical sites listed must already be operational at the time of submission. You may continue developing new clinical training sites, but they cannot be listed until they're operational.
Do mobile or non-traditional clinical settings qualify as clinical sites?
It depends on the setting. A mobile clinic can only count as a clinical site if it's attached to a clinic with a permanent address. Other non-traditional sites, such as one focused on addiction medicine or juvenile mental health, are acceptable if they provide relevant clinical training experience for medical students, as determined by your institution.
Does a clinical site need an existing residency program to qualify?
It depends on the type of site. A Teaching Health Center must operate a primary-care residency program, but a community-based setting does not need an existing, operating residency program.
Partnerships & priorities
What qualifies as a public-private partnership, and when must it be established?
An example is a clinical training site that provides letters of agreement documenting required clinical experiences for medical students in tribal, rural, and/or medically underserved communities. To receive priority, the partnership must already exist before the grant start date — new partnerships are still encouraged even if they won't count toward this priority. See page 26 of the NOFO for more detail.
What types of entities qualify as an approved private partner?
An agreement with a private, nonprofit clinical affiliate can qualify if it meets the NOFO's requirements for public-private partnerships.
How is the Tribal priority determined for institutions with out-of-state partnerships?
The Tribal priority is based on where your own institution is located, not your partners' locations. To qualify for Priority 1, you must provide documentation that your university is in a state with the greatest number of federally recognized tribes, based on Bureau of Indian Affairs data. HRSA defines "greatest number" as two or more federally recognized tribes in that state regardless of total tribal population or any partner tribe's location.
Program activities & postbaccalaureate programs
Do program activities need to reach all medical students?
No. It's up to your institution how to implement these activities. The program's goal is to prepare and encourage medical students to pursue primary care residencies and careers serving tribal, rural, and/or medically vulnerable communities and ultimately to increase the number of primary care physicians in states with a projected shortage.
What age or education levels can program activities target?
Only postbaccalaureate and medical program activities are allowable. K-12 outreach is not allowable under this NOFO.
What qualifies as a Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program?
It's a program that lets college graduates complete undergraduate science coursework to prepare for applying to medical school or related professional schools. Pre-admission programs for rising college juniors do not qualify.
Can institutions modify or build existing programs and activities?
Yes. Institutions may expand the existing Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program while also creating a new one. Similarly, if you've already developed or implemented activities under your current MSE grant, you can expand or enhance them with this new funding, if those activities are required by and comply with this NOFO.