Working for a Community Health Center (CHC) is a unique experience, with an abundance of advantages over careers in other types of health-care organizations.
Note:
For a detailed explanation of Community Health Centers, please link to our About CHCs page.
Here are just a few of the advantages that candidates and students should consider while looking for careers in healthcare, and that CHC Human Resources staff should remember while recruiting:
Please click or scroll down for:
Potential Scholarship and/or Loan Repayment Funds
Professional Malpractice Costs Covered
Mission-Driven Environment
Support Network
Commitment to Clinical Quality
Growing Need for CHC Physicians
1. POTENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP AND/OR LOAN REPAYMENT FUNDS of up to $35,000 per year through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) or the State Loan Repayment Programs
Both programs require providers to be located in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). All Community Health Centers are automatically located in HPSAs by the nature of being Federally Qualified Health Centers. Therefore, while no CHC can promise loan repayment, the chances of receiving loan repayment when working at a CHC are much higher than at other types of health care clinics.
Link to our Understanding HPSAs and MUAs and State Loan Repayment Program pages for more information.
2. PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE COSTS COVERED through the Federal Torts Claims Act (FTCA)
This act provides complete professional liability coverage to providers practicing in Community Health Centers.
For further information, please link to the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC)’s Clinician's Handbook on the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
3. STRONG MISSION-DRIVEN ENVIRONMENT
Community Health Centers serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay and provide services to the most medically vulnerable populations in our communities. CHCs allow physicians to fully realize why they got into medicine in the first place: to treat patients in need of care!
4. STRONG SUPPORT NETWORK OF CLINICAL COLLEAGUES through State and Regional Primary Care Associations
These associations bring together leaders from CHCs on a formal basis and allow connections and collaborations with clinical leaders running more than 100 community-oriented clinics regionwide.
For lists of CHCs and PCAs in Region VIII, please visit our Links page.
5. COMMITMENT TO CLINICAL QUALITY through the Health Disparities Collaboratives
The Health Disparities Collaboratives program is funded by the Federal government to improve patient outcomes in a tangible way. Most CHCs currently participate in at least one disease collaborative, including those focusing on diabetes, depression, asthma, cancer, immunizations, etc.
Link to our Health Disparities Collaboratives section for more information.
6. A GROWING NEED FOR COMMITTED CHC PHYSICIANS
President Bush is committed to doubling the number of patients seen at Community Health Centers between 2002 and 2006. Thus, the number of physicians required to care for these patients is expected to grow dramatically as well. The Federal government has made a substantial long-term financial investment to growing CHCs in Region VIII and nationwide, in effect bolstering the financial security of these organizations. To join now is to be at the forefront of a growing movement to care for all patients in our society, regardless of their ability to pay.
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