National Health Service Corps loan repayment participants will be working under one of three types of assignments while serving their obligations, a Private Practice Assignment, Private Practice Option or a Federal Assignment.  All clinicians must practice in a currently designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) for the clinician’s discipline (primary medical, dental, or mental health care). Each specific practice location where the clinician is scheduled to work must be approved by the NHSC.
Private Practice Assignments
The Private Practice Assignment (PPA) is a NHSC placement alternative for loan repayment participants to fulfill their service obligation. The criteria for serving under a PPA agreement are as follows:
- Clinician is an employee of the practice site and subject to its personnel system and employment policies.
- receives a salary and benefits at least equal to that of a comparable Federal civilian employee (a Federal employee of the same discipline/specialty with similar educational, certification, and experience credentials).
- receives malpractice and tail coverage provided by the approved site (under the Federal Tort Claims Act or commercial policy).
In addition, PPA assignees are given retirement credit for service performed under the PPA if they join the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps within 1 year of the completion date of their PPA assignment.
Private Practice Option
If the above PPA criteria are not met, the individual may practice under a Private Practice Option (or as a Federal employee see below). The Private Practice Option (PPO) is an NHSC placement alternative through which a loan repayment participant fulfills all or part of the service obligation. Any individual serving in a practice that does not meet all three of the requirements listed above for a PPA will serve under a PPO agreement. The individual serves as a salaried employee in a health care entity, a group practice, a partnership or operates a Solo Private Practice. Each clinician serving under this option must fill out the required Private Practice Option Application.
Federal Assignment Agreement (FED)
The criteria for serving under a Federal Assignment is as follows:
- The individual must serve as a Federal Civil Service employee or a member of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service and is subject to both the Federal Government and the site’s personnel system and employment policies.
Solo Private Practice
Loan repayment participants that are interested in establishing their own private practice must submit a Private Practice Option Application (PPOA) and a Recruitment and Retention Application along with the required documentation for review and approval by the NHSC.Â
Submitting these applications does not guarantee approval. Each application is approved separately. The PPO is the application for the clinician and the R&R is the application for the site itself. Please do not assume you will be able to fulfill your NHSC service commitment in an established or solo private practice until you receive written approval from the NHSC. Site visits will be conducted on all solo private practices to assure that the NHSC requirements are met and to determine if service credit should be given.
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