The National Health Service Corps

DR. NIDHI CHANDER : I’m very passionate about becoming a physician. I think each individual is responsible in their life to do the most they can.

SHANE LARSON: I wanted to make sure I was able to serve the community I grew up in and provide services to as many people as possible. So your stomach hasn’t been bothering you or anything?

NARRATOR: On October 13th we honor the National Health Service Corps’ work to bring more medical, mental and dental health workers to areas experiencing a shortage of those professionals. In 2011, thanks to the Recovery Act and the new healthcare law the National Health Service Corps can count more than 10,000 members in its ranks for the first time in its nearly 40 year history. That’s an increase of more than 250 percent in the last three years.   The health care law’s investment means more people are able to spend more time with their doctor and other health care professionals. And, because the Corps provides scholarship and loan repayment to students training for the field, more people can get good-paying jobs when they finish their instruction.  Corps members then commit to working for at least two years in areas in significant need of more health care professionals.

KATIE RULAPAUGH: My name is Katie. I’m a physician’s assistant, and I work in Adak, Alaska, which is an island on the far west end of the Aleutian Chain. I work in a clinic. We do have some capability of providing some emergency care and doing small procedures. I am on call 24/7. One of my motivations in repaying my loans is actually to be able to do more medicine in rural and underserved areas in the future.

DR. SOY LIM: My name is Soy Lim, and I work for National Health Services, Incorporated in Tehachapi, California. Hi, I'm Dr. Lim. Nice to meet you. We see quite a few patients that come in with very bad infections, and it’s always because they didn’t have a way to have it treated. When I graduated from dental school, I owed a lot of money, so the student loan repayment was, you know, a big, appealing factor. And then I worked in private practice for a little while, and there was a big push to sell things, and I felt, at times, unnecessary treatment.  So I felt that if I worked at a community clinic, there would be more emphasis on overall patient care and more caring about the patient, and that’s what I’ve found. So I’m very happy.

SHANE LARSON: My name is Shane Larson. I’m a licensed professional counselor that works at a community mental health center in Watertown, South Dakota. We serve a community of about 25,000 and about four or five other counties surrounding the area. I would suspect that a lot would not be able to make the commute to other communities that would be able to serve them. Some of the individuals we serve have severe mental illnesses or just economically, they would be unable to do so. So, I -- unfortunately, I would imagine that without the community health center, probably yes, they would have to go without the service.

DR. NIDHI CHANDER: My name is Nidhi Chander, and I work at University of Florida Eastside Community Practice in Gainesville, Florida. Everything on one side of town has lots of pediatricians and on the other side, there is no pediatric care at all except for the Health Department and my one clinic. We serve the underserved area, people that don’t have access to regular care. I’ve always wanted to give back to my community and just help kids that are just like me and tell them in my office, if I could do this, you guys could do this, too. I see a whole array of problems. The kids you take care of, they really appreciate your help. Their parents really appreciate it. They really need the help. I have two little girls at home and my little girls -- or anybody who’s listening to this, your little girls or your little boys -- could very well be those same children that need this help. I can't tell you, I sleep so much better at night knowing I’ve helped somebody that really needed it.

NARRATOR: You can learn more about programs to help expand the primary care workforce at the website of the Health Resources and Services Administration, hrsa.gov. For more information on the Affordable Care Act and how it gives Americans more access to primary health care, visit HealthCare.gov.