Office of Primary Care and Rural Health

Office of Primary Care Programs

National Health Service Corps’ SEARCH 
Program in Rhode Island
{Student Experiences And Rotations in 
Community Health}

What is SEARCH?

Typical Weekly Schedule

Eligibility

Schedule/Stipend
Requirements
Projects

What is SEARCH?

The SEARCH Program in Rhode Island is supported by the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) in cooperation with the Office of Primary Care, Rhode Island Department of Health and the Department of Family Medicine, Brown University. The eight-week clinical/community health rotation provides health professions students with community-oriented primary care training experience in underserved areas of Rhode Island. Students are matched with mentors/preceptors in clinical settings who show students the satisfactions and challenges of working in underserved communities. The clinical experience is complemented by site visits to a variety of community health and social service agencies and a didactic curriculum that covers topics such as the importance of working as an interdisciplinary team, the special needs of underserved populations, and providing culturally sensitive, community responsive health care.

Typical weekly schedule:

A typical weekly schedule involves approximately three days a week working one-on-one shadowing a primary care provider in your field, learning about the daily life of that person and seeing that person in action. One day a week is spent visiting local community agencies in order to give students a background in what services are available in Rhode Island and how primary care providers work in concert with community service agencies to better care for patients. Many of these services are national thus, available in communities throughout the country, so students who come to Rhode Island from outside the area will find the experience relevant as well. Time is also spent in didactic sessions, covering various primary care topics and completing a community health project.

Eligibility: 

Applicants are eligible for the NHSC SEARCH Program in Rhode Island if they have:

• Completed at least one year of medical or dental school; or
• Completed one year of training in a certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife; physician assistant, dental hygiene, or graduate-level social work or clinical psychology program.

Schedule/Stipend:

• The SEARCH 2003 community health rotation took place June 9 – August 1, 2003.  The SEARCH 2004 rotation is not yet scheduled.
• A stipend of $2000 is offered to participants.  (Note: We do not provide housing or transportation.)

Requirements: 

Students must be available on a full-time basis to:

• Serve their clinical rotation in a medically underserved area of Rhode Island
• Complete a community-oriented primary care project.

Projects: 

The required final project enables students to make valuable contributions to community-based health care programs and is designed to promote interaction between students from different fields. Part of the intent of the project, is to give each student a better perspective on how other disciplines approach the same problem and how we can all learn from each other through the collaborative process. Community agencies and providers indicate topic areas that are appropriate for student projects. All projects must be completed in eight weeks and remain in the community for use by patients and professionals.

For more information on the federal program, go to Bureau of Health Professions NHSC SEARCH Program