March 29, 2024

Journal: NHSC Satisfaction Article Published

The August issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved includes a article by a team led by Dr. Donald E. Pathman with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reporting on the results of their work assessing the satisfaction of participants of the National Health Service Corps program. The assessment concluded that 94% reported the NHSC experience met or exceeded their expectations, and the same number would recommend the Loan Repayment Program to others.

We especially appreciated the conclusion, which relates directly to our effort in Congress to expand the NHSC. The last section of the conclusion (page 1208) reads: “With the rising educational debt of young clinicians, this study’s central finding that satisfaction is high among NHSC LRP participants and the related finding of other studies of strong retention among LRP participants suggest that Congress could expand the size of the NHSC LRP workforce to enable it to correct a greater portion of the health workforce maldistribution in the U.S.”

The full article can be accessed here: Satisfaction of the Primary Care, Mental Health, and Dental Health Clinicians of the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program