Evaluating Retention in BCRS Programs: Final Report

Through its 40-year history, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) has supported more than 40,000 primary care, mental health and dental health clinicians with scholarships and loan repayment incentives to work in Health Professional Shortage Areas. Retaining these clinicians after they complete their service commitments (which are typically 2-5 years) is key to the NHSC’s lasting impact on underserved communities and for further leveraging the Federal investment to expand access to care. The Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service, the NHSC’s parent agency, commissioned this study to assess retention rates for recent NHSC clinicians after they complete their service contracts and to compare these recent retention rates to the rates documented in the NHSC’s last extensive retention survey in 1998. The current study was to assess retention in the short-term (1 month to 1 year after service terms are completed), mid-term (2-5 years) and long-term (7-12 years), and to identify the factors associated with higher retention rates over time. Retention was assessed with respect to remaining within the practice where the clinician served while in the NHSC and also with respect to working in the broader set of practices that focus on care for the underserved.

Read the report: Evaluating Retention in BCRS Programs