The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) primary role is to build community health, especially focusing on rural areas. That is by supporting qualified care providers who are determined to work in the United States rural areas. One of the primary characteristics of this rural area to validate intervention by the NHSC is limited access to health care.
As identified, NHSC supports healthcare providers who can work in rural areas with limited access to health care. These areas are also recognized as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). The first role of NHSC that influences the achievement of its goal is helping qualified health practitioners who have educational loans repay them if they agree to work in the HPSAs, specifically at approved sites, as not all facilities in these areas operate under the help of NHSC (Pathman et al., 2019). Another role of the NHSC is offering educational scholarships to students willing to pursue medicine and serve at NHSC-eligible sites. The above illustrations present the fact that NHSC improves access to job opportunities. For example, after agreeing to work in the respective sites, one’s educational loan is repaid under favorable conditions. The baseline is that the individual gets a job. Secondly, after agreeing to serve in the sites, one gets a scholarship and is guaranteed employment. From that, NHSC provides job opportunities to health care practitioners.
The primary benefit to the respective areas, HPSAs, is enhanced access to health care. That is primarily because the efforts of NHSC are to initiate the availability of care providers with critical and necessary skills in the regions. At the same time, the rural areas receive affordable care because the program initiated by NHSC ensures that these groups get care despite their inability to cater for the expenses (Olson et al., 2020). From that illustration, the regions receive affordable and quality care, which is a vital benefit towards enhanced health status.
The second benefit the rural areas receive due to the efforts of NHSC is disease and illness prevention. Prevention of diseases and illnesses is one of the focuses of healthcare practice achieved through vaccination. From that, the healthcare professionals deployed in HPSA areas will be mandated to administer vaccinations such as vaccinations for children concerning their age and growth and vaccinations necessitated by emerging trends in health (Olson et al., 2020). A relevant example is COVID 19. In relation to preventing diseases and illnesses, these professionals deployed in these regions will lead health-related research to identify the prevalent and severe health issues in the respective regions. From that, the communities will benefit improved health conditions.
