Up to $100k+ Towards Student Loan Forgiveness - The NHSC Scholarship

Welcome back readers to a blog post that can change the trajectory of your financial freedom as you enter the dental profession. If the title caught your attention, we’ll be discussing an opportunity to earn your dental school education debt free, earn a competitive salary, all while providing essential dentistry to underserved communities. 

Why is this important? There is a running joke in our profession that dentistry is coined “debtistry” with dental school tuition soaring into a six-figure debt territory ranging from $500-800,000 compounded with a 7-8% federal interest rate. If becoming a dentist is on your vision board, creating a plan for financial independence needs to be at the forefront of your mind. In other blog posts, we’ve discussed how the HPSP/HSCP scholarship in the military is one path to a full-ride scholarship in dental school. In this blog, we will explore student loan forgiveness opportunities with the National Health Service Corp Scholarship (NHSC) and National Health Service Corp Loan Repayment program (LRP). 

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What is the NHSC Scholarship Program vs the NHSC Loan Repayment Program (LRP)?

NHSC Scholarship Program

• Candidates: Incoming D1 students or current dental students enrolled in an accredited US Dental School 

• Competitiveness: approx. 180 scholarships nationwide annually

• Provides: 

  • Full tuition coverage

  • Monthly living stipend

  • Financial support for required fees, educational costs ie. books, typodont teeth, etc. 

• Service repayment: one year of service for each year of dental school funded (4 years typically, with minimum of 2 years)

• Ideal for: students who want to graduate dental school debt-free 

NHSC LRP

• Licensed dentists already working or interested in working at an NHSC-approved site

• Competitiveness: Dependent on federal budget allocation. 

• Provides

  • Up to $50,000k in tax-free loan repayment for a two-year full-time commitment

• Service repayment:  2 years - Provide high quality patient-centered dentistry at an NHSC approved site in a high-need community, typically in high volume Medicaid offices

• Ideal for: Licensed professionals with student debt

Who is eligible for either scholarship program? 

To qualify for NHSC Scholarship or LRP, you must be: 

• US citizen or US National

• Hold an unrestricted dental license in the state at which the NHSC-approved site is located

• Have a qualifying educational loan type (not all federal/private loans are compatible for NHSC)

• Obtain Medicare or Medicaid credentials 

• Be employed or accept employment at an NHSC approved site in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), ie. rural underserved communities 

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California’s Best Kept Secret Employment Opportunity: Kids2Dentist 

The last eligibility criteria brings me to a best kept secret employment opportunity I’m so excited to share with you. What’s an example of a NHSC approved site? For those of you who have followed along in my military career, you know that I began my second tour as a US Navy Lieutenant and general dentist stationed at Naval Medical Readiness Training Center, Lemoore in Central California. While many in-state and out-of-state folks recognize famous urban cities of California like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the central valley is a pocket of California that closely resembles a smaller town feel neighbored by the nation’s most beautiful landscapes ie. Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. This is an agricultural capital of California with a large demographic of blue-collar, migrant workers in underserved communities. 

While I enjoy my responsibilities as a Navy Dentist, I have also found immense fulfillment in working at a pediatric dental office called Kids2Dentist in Visalia (also offices in Fresno, Porterville, and Delano). Interestingly enough, the founder of Kids2Dentist is a NHSC scholarship recipient who shares the mission of providing dental services to underserved populations and currently offers employment opportunities as an NHSC approved site. 

So, if you are getting ready to graduate dental school or are currently a practicing dentist and are open to treating kids in a multidisciplinary office, this opportunity may be perfect for you. Whether you are ready for a break from the big cities or want to find a Midwest small-town vibe in a new environment, here are some enticing career development opportunities I have found while working as an associate at Kids2Dentist. 

Why Choose Kids2Dentist as an associate or NHSC LRP Recipient?

As an associate of Kids2Dentist, I have firsthand been able to: 

• Serve Underserved Communities: Make a significant impact by providing dental care to children in need. Prevention and oral hygiene goes a long way when we can intervene with parents and kids at an early age. This has been the biggest fulfillment when I compare my work with adults. 

• Receive Loan Repayment Assistance: Benefit from the NHSC LRP to reduce your educational debt while getting paid a competitive base salary of $220,000/year with production bonus opportunities.

• Work in a Supportive Environment: Join a multidisciplinary team dedicated to improving children's oral health in central California as we collaborate with board certified pediatric dentists, oral surgeons, and orthodontists. 

• Mentorship: Having worked in the military for the last 3 years, it’s safe to say it had been over 5 years since I had treated a child. Kids2Dentist has the mentorship to set us up for success. With a clinical director, Dr. Brent Tucker, who also serves on board as a pediatric residency faculty at UCLA, our team is privileged to receive monthly study clubs where we review cases, literature, and AAPD recommendations for best clinical practices. The company also organizes 2 CE conferences a year inviting world-renowned specialists to improve the education and engagement of dentists in the Central Valley at no cost to us. I shadowed expert clinicians in both clinic and general anesthesia prior to seeing patients myself which allowed me to gain confidence and hit the ground running. 

• Technology: I’ve been impressed with every office’s capabilities with CBCT and an iTero scanner. The treatment capabilities between specialists become endless with our digital advancements. 

  
  

If this opportunity has caught your attention, your next question may be… how do I apply for the NHSC scholarship or LRP? 

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Application Timeline and Process

The application cycle for the NHSC LRP typically opens for an extremely limited time window every year. For 2025, the cycle opened March 27th, 2025- May 8th, 2025. So, if this is something you are interested in, it’s important to be a timely applicant with all your documents in order. You will need:

• The application begins with eligibility questions, such as whether you are a U.S. citizen and if you have any federal debt followed by questions of  personal information, academic information, and the school you plan to attend.

• One academic and one non academic LOR

• One personal statement

• Submit the following documents: 

  • An acceptance report completed by the dental school administrator

  • Authorization to release information

  • Current year tuition information

  • The personal essay

  • Proof of U.S. citizenship

  • Unofficial transcript

  • Verification of disadvantaged background (either submitted by your school or self-attested via your FAFSA summary page)

For more detailed information, please refer to the official NHSC federal guidelines linked: https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/nhsc/scholarships/scholarship-application-guidance.pdf 

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Contact for Opportunities

For more information regarding professional opportunities at Kids 2 Dentist or Star Tek Adult Dental, please contact Michelle Ammons, HR Director, at hr@kids2dentist.com. To take the next step, please include your resume or CV. Phone conversations are available upon request following initial email contact.