Eligibility Criteria

• Are You Eligible?
• IHS Health Profession Disciplines
• Qualifying Loans

Are You Eligible?

As a health professional, you are eligible to apply if you:

• Are a US citizen.
• Are committed to practice at an IHS or other Indian health program priority site.
• Can begin service on or before September 30 for two continuous years of full-time clinical practice.
• Are not currently fulfilling another service obligation, for example, IHS scholarship recipients — you are eligible to apply for the LRP once you have fulfilled any existing service obligations.
• Have a degree in a health profession or are in postgraduate training or in your final year of a health profession school.
• Have a valid state license to practice in a health profession or will be obtaining a license to practice; you can still apply if you have not yet obtained a license.
• Currently meet at least one of the following requirements:
  • Are eligible or hold an appointment as a commissioned officer in the Regular or Reserve Corps of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
  • Meet the professional standards requirements for federal civil service employment in the IHS.
  • Are employed in an Indian health program without a service obligation.
  • Are still in school but have a job offer from an Indian health program.

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IHS Health Profession Disciplines

You are eligible to apply to the LRP if you are specializing in any of the following health profession disciplines:

• Acupuncturist: Licensed
• Advanced Practice Nurse — Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) — priority consideration will be given to CRNAs.
• Certified Professional Coder: AAPC or AHIMA
• Chemical Dependency Counseling: Bachelor's and master's degree levels
• Chiropractor: Licensed
• Clinical Psychology: PhD and PsyD
• Counseling: Master's degree-level only
• Counseling Psychology: PhD
• Dental Assistant: Certified
• Dental Hygiene
• Dentistry: DDS and DMD
• Diagnostic Radiology Technology: Certificate, Associate and BS degree
• Engineering (Environmental): BS — Engineers must provide environmental engineering services to be eligible.
• Environmental Health (Sanitarian): BS
• Health Records: RHIT and RHIA
• Medical Laboratory Scientist: Associate and BS
• Medical Laboratory Technician: Associate and BS
• Medical Technology: Associate and BS
• Medicine: Allopathic and Osteopathic
• Naturopathic Medicine: Licensed
• Nurse: Associate, BS and MS
• Optometry: OD
• Pharmacy: BS, PharmD
• Physician Assistant: Certified
• Podiatry: DPM
• Public Health Nutritionist/Registered Dietician
• Rehabilitative Services — Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology: MS and DPT
• Respiratory Therapy
• Social Work: Master's degree-level only
• Ultrasonography
• Other health professions as determined by the needs of Indian health programs.

Health care professionals practicing in any of the health profession disciplines listed above are eligible to apply. Please note that funding for these disciplines can change based on the staffing needs of Indian health programs. The table below shows the number of LRP awards distributed during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.

*Physician Assistant/Advanced Practice Nurses

Visit the IHS Careers website to learn more about IHS health profession disciplines.

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Qualified Student Loans

The LRP repays qualified student loans.

Qualified student loans are limited to government (federal, state, local) and commercial loans used to pay for health profession schools and related expenses, including tuition, fees, books, lab expenses and reasonable living expenses.

A number of federal program loans require documentation, but do not require additional verification since they already meet statutory requirements. These loans include:

• Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program
• Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) Program
• Perkins Loan, formerly National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) Program
• Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL) Program
• Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS)
• Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) Loans

All other loans require lender verification, including loans from undergraduate and graduate health professions schools.

For consolidated loans (health profession education loans combined with commercial, non-health profession or other education loans), only the health profession portion for the discipline for which you are hired can be repaid by the LRP. Visit the Payments and Examples page for further clarification on the loan repayment process.

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