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NHSC - A
Career Option for
Dentists
The National Health
Service Corps (NHSC),
established in 1972 as
part of the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, Division
of Health Resources and
Services Administration,
offers health
professionals the
opportunity to provide
primary health care
services in underserved
communities. In exchange,
the NHSC offers either
loan repayment or a
scholarship while in
dental school.
The NHSC Scholarship
Program awards
scholarships to students
pursuing primary care
health professions
training in return for a
commitment to provide
health care to communities
in need. The Corps also
offers loan repayment
assistance to support
health care providers who
choose to bring their
skills to qualified areas.
Consider Dr. Kelly
Crooker, who graduated
from LSU School of
Dentistry in 2005. After
serving as a U.S. Army
captain providing dental
care to fellow soldiers,
she is back in her
hometown of Mobile,
Alabama, caring for the
underserved in the NHSC.
"My mom was a dental
hygienist," she says, "so
I grew up around it. But
it was only in college
that I realized dentistry
would give me a lot of
patient contact, as well
as the flexibility I
wanted when I had a
family."
At the end of her first
year of dental school, Dr.
Crooker received a
three-year U.S. Army
scholarship, which
required three years of
active duty service. She
was assigned to Fort Polk,
an Army post in Louisiana,
where she worked almost
exclusively providing
dental care for soldiers.
Fort Polk, a military
Joint Readiness Training
Center, was busy preparing
soldiers for
deployment—which required
that personnel have no
outstanding medical or
dental health issues—and
caring for them upon their
return home. "It was a
great experience," says
Dr. Crooker. "I loved
working with the
soldiers—it was very
rewarding. The facility
was new, I learned a lot
from the other dentists,
and it was a great
environment."
When her full-time
military service
commitment was up, Dr.
Crooker decided to leave
active duty and work
part-time so she could
spend more time with their
three young children.
Released from active duty
in June 2008, she is
currently a major in the
Army Individual Ready
Reserves (IRR). Soldiers
typically serve two to
four years on active duty
and then transfer to
another component (such as
Reserves, National Guard,
or Individual Ready
Reserves) to fulfill the
remainder of their
military service
obligation. Soldiers in
the IRR may be
involuntarily called to
active duty service for
limited periods of time
during war or national
emergency.
Her husband first
mentioned the NHSC. "It
was about the time the
NHSC began offering the
option for half-time
service in the Loan
Repayment Program," says
Dr. Crooker, who still had
outstanding educational
loans. She did not receive
an award on her first
application, but was
accepted the following
year and began her service
in May 2012. "Everything
just came together, and
it's been great," says Dr.
Crooker.
Now working at the Mobile
County Health Department's
main clinic in the heart
of downtown Mobile, Dr.
Crooker's half-time
service is an ideal
situation. It allows her
to juggle care for her
family—which includes two
sons, ages 10 and 7, and a
daughter who just turned
5—with her passion for
serving underserved
patients. "The biggest
thing for me is being able
to help the underserved.
It's extremely rewarding,"
she says emphatically.
"Everyday I have a
wonderful feeling that I
truly have helped people.
For me, that's my number
one satisfaction."
NHSC approved sites,
located in Health
Professional Shortage
Areas (HPSA), provide
primary care medical,
dental, or mental and
behavioral health services
regardless of a patient's
ability to pay. The sites
offer discounted fees to
patients who qualify and
accept patients covered by
Medicare, Medicaid, and
Children's Health
Insurance Program (CHIP).
In Louisiana, 78 percent,
or 50 of the 64 parishes,
are currently designated
as dental HPSAs, most of
which are rural.
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