Career Paths
Health professionals seeking a career in Indian health share similar values and perspectives that set the stage for successful careers and fulfilling lives in small town, rural and even urban settings. However, each individual has his or her own set of circumstances that can affect his or her transition into an Indian health community.
Our goal is to ensure that you find a community that matches your personal and professional needs. As you search for the right opportunity, we encourage you to take into account all factors that will influence your decision. This will go a long way toward selecting the career path that best suits your needs.
Clinicians have a choice of four different Indian health career paths. Each offers a unique and distinctive way to set out on your chosen professional track. Each opportunity offers outstanding career rewards, competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package, based on your level of training and experience.
Among the outstanding benefits is the opportunity to pay off your qualified student loans through two loan repayment options. The IHS and the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Programs are designed to enable a clinician to reduce his or her debt efficiently and on a set timetable. In this way, one may focus on meeting the more important challenges of a new assignment head-on. This benefit is just one element of the impressive compensation packages available through an Indian health career.
“I think the whole experience of changing directions, coming from a different background, the desire to be part of something bigger – it just comes from within. I was very fortunate to be around the people I worked with and to have the experiences that I had. The patients were so receptive and accepting of me.”
– IHS Physical Therapist
Whether you choose the civil service, direct Tribal hire or US Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps, a career in Indian health offers positions to meet your specific needs for professional opportunity, personal adventure and a greater purpose in life.
Indian Health Careers
Join us and you will be working side-by-side with like-minded professionals who hail from a broad range of health care disciplines. Our clinicians can choose to practice in any of the hundreds of hospitals and clinics across the continental US and Alaska. While openings are available in urban settings, the majority of our locations are rural and remote, offering exciting opportunities for those who seek the adventurous, outdoor lifestyle that comes with practicing in an Indian health community. In addition, you will appreciate delivering top-quality health care following a proven team model. You will enjoy excellent compensation, including competitive pay, bonuses, comprehensive health care coverage, opportunities for advancement and much more.
Ours is a culture in which non-clinical paperwork is minimized at all levels. Enjoy access to system-wide electronic medical data, plus full-spectrum personal health summaries for each patient. In short, we have created a practice model that allows you to do more of what inspired you to choose a career in health care in the first place.
