Applicant Eligibility

To be eligible to apply to the HWLRPC, applicants must:

• Be a US citizen (either US born or naturalized) or US national and work in Kentucky.
• Have been trained and licensed to provide direct patient care in one of the program’s eligible disciplines and specialties: physicians, optometrists, Ophthalmologists, audiologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, registered nurses, dentists, registered dental hygienists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional clinical counselors, health service psychologists, marriage and family therapists, psychiatric nurse specialists, alcohol and substance use disorder counselors, pharmacists, and other specialties considered.
• Have a current, full, permanent, unencumbered, unrestricted professional license, certificate, or registration in Kentucky in the discipline you are applying to serve.
• Be employed at an eligible HWLRPC site, or have accepted an offer of employment at an eligible site where service will begin (and the applicant will begin seeing patients) no later than December 31, 2024.
• Work in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) that corresponds to their training and/or discipline. (You can search the HPSA Find website to determine if your practice site is located in a HPSA.)
• Practice 24-40 hours a week up to 4160 hours over a two-to-three years period, providing primary health services at an eligible site.
• Agree to use HWLRPC funds only to repay qualifying educational loans.
• Have a history of honoring prior legal obligations, have no existing service obligation nor incur any service obligation that would be performed concurrently with their HWLRPC service obligation, and should not be currently excluded, debarred, suspended, or disqualified by a federal agency.