Tuesday, March 22, 2011

2011 Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP)

The Health Resources and Services Administration is pleased to announce the opening of the 2011 Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP) application cycle. The application cycle opens today and will remain open until 5:00 pm May 6, 2011.

Visit the FLRP website (http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/repayment/Faculty/index.html) for more information and to begin the application process. If you have specific questions, please call us at 1-800-221-9393 or email CallCenter@hrsa.gov.


Faculty Loan Repayment Program
Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service
Health Resources and Services Administration
Rockville, MD

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Master's Degree in Public Health Offered in Fall 2011

The University of San Francisco is launching a new degree program which will combine our strength in health professions with our commitment to community with a new Master's degree program beginning in Fall 2011. The Master of Public Health (MPH) degree will be housed in the School of Nursing and is designed to prepare graduates as leaders in public health practice.

Upon completion of the MPH program, the graduate will be able to:

1. Enhance health in human populations through organized community effort.

2. Identify and assess public health needs of populations with a focus on strategies and practices with a prevention orientation.

3. Utilize an ecological approach that recognizes the interactions and relationships among multiple determinants of health, including environmental conditions and locale.

4. Utilize epidemiology data to assess community needs and policy program implications, including distributions and determinants of disease, disabilities and death in human populations, the characteristics and dynamics of human populations, the natural history of disease, and biologic and nutritional basis of health.

5. Demonstrate competence in collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and interpretation of health data, design and analysis of health-related surveys and experiments.

6. Successfully plan, organize, manage and evaluate culturally competent public health programs including consideration of the policy and legal aspects that advance or inhibit effective implementation.

7. Utilize knowledge and skill from the social and behavioral sciences to identify and create solutions to public health problems and propose and address research questions.

8. Employ effective problem-solving skills, interprofesssional communication and collaboration in public health practice.

9. Develop and evaluate effective strategies for managing the ethical dilemmas inherent in public health practice, advancing information technology, and conducting public health research.

10. Develop leadership, career, and professional development skills in order to promote lifelong learning.

11. Focus on the global and locale factors impacting public health of communities and demonstrate cultural competence as a practitioner.

12. Advance the mission and core values of the University of San Francisco.

Applications will be accepted from March 1 until June 15. Apply here!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Answer is the School of Nursing, #7

Which School of Nursing has launched the first executive-level Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the United States? That's right, the USF School of Nursing!

The ELDNP program is a dynamic and engaging 6-semester academic exploration that prepares the nurse executive for the multiple dimensions of administrative responsibilities within varied healthcare environments. Content is structured in an innovative hybrid format, integrating the best practices of classroom and computer-assisted instruction.

This program is designed specifically for current nurse executives at the division level or above with supervisory oversight of a group of essential services or functions. This degree extends and enhances the knowledge, skill and performance of these healthcare system leaders in a wide variety of clinical and administrative environments. The curriculum for executive leadership is based on the AACN Essentials for DNP, in addition to the AONE core competencies for nursing executives. The curriculum also conforms to the standards and expectations set forward by Council on Graduate Education for Administrative Nursing (CGEAN), the American Nurses Association, and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) Health Leadership Competency Model.

Effective executive practice requires substantial knowledge of business, finance, labor relations, strategic leadership, organizational development, and healthcare policy, and the ELDNP is an advanced-level practice degree that emphasizes application of research to clinical nursing practice at the highest administrative levels.

The second cohort of the ELDNP program will begin in January 2012. Applications will be collected in Fall 2011.

Friday, January 7, 2011

GOT LOANS??? $4 million available for loan repayment

The California State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) has approximately $4 million to award in 2011 for loan repayment of outstanding government and commercial loans for expenses incurred during undergraduate or graduate education! Up to $100,000 in funding available for primary healthcare providers who commit to a three-year service obligation at a public or private non-profit medical facility that is located in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Each facility is required to pay a matching grant, meaning that up to $50,000 is paid by the State, and up to $50,000 is paid by the facility.

In order to participate, you must be providing full-time direct patient care in a medical facility. Full-time, except for Ob/Gyn, is defined as 40 hours per week. Qualifying licensed, non-residency, primary care health professionals in following disciplines only may apply:
· Allopathic or Osteopathic Physicians specializing in Family Medicine, General Pediatrics, General Internal Medicine, General Psychiatry, Gerontology, or Obstetrics and Gynecology
· Primary Care Nurse Practitioners
· Primary Care Physician Assistants
· Certified Nurse Mid-Wives
· Dentists
· Dental Hygienists
· Licensed Mental or Behavioral Health Professionals: Clinical or Counseling Psychologists, Clinical Social Workers, Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, or Psychiatric Nurse Specialists
A facility must meet the following criteria in order to qualify for the SLRP:

• Be either publicly-funded or a private non-profit
• Be located in a designated Health Professional Shortage Area
• Facility Health Professional Shortage Area
• Be willing to match the state award
• Commit to a minimum of two years of employment for each provider
• Pay prevailing wages
• Direct patient care performed in an outpatient setting
• Enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of California
• Be listed on or apply to be listed on the California SLRP Certified Eligible Site list

In order to get your facility on the Certified Eligible Site list, your facility will need to submit a Certified Eligible Site application every four years in order to participate in the SLRP. Each clinic must submit a separate application if they would like to employ SLRP providers, even if the clinic is part of a larger parent organization with an automatic designation. A list of the current eligible sites may also be found on the SLRP website and is sorted in three categories: primary care, mental and dental.

If your site is not on this list, it may still qualify if it is located in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). Please use the following steps to determine if your facility is located in a HPSA:
1) Find the census tract number. Visit http://www.ffiec.gov/Geocode/default.aspx and type in the street address and state and hit search. Write down the number in the "Tract Code" box; this is your census tract (CT) number.
2) Visit http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/ to see if your census tract is listed on the HPSA Web site. Using the "Advanced Search..." in the right hand corner, select appropriate information for your State, County, and Discipline. Under Status, choose "Designated." When all information is entered, hit "Show me the HPSAs" and search for your CT or MSSA.


3) If you do not see if your site’s census tract number listed, also check to see if the site itself is listed as a HPSA.
The application cycle opened on January 7, 2011 and will be open continuously until funds are expended. Contracts will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note that you can only commit to one service obligation at a time and must complete any existing service obligations prior to accepting a new contract for this program. You may find additional program information at: http://www.oshpd.ca.gov/HWDD/SLRP.html . Please review the website and online application.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Graduate Admissions Decisions Update

After receiving a record number of applications this semester across all graduate programs, the review committees are busy reading and discussing the applications. The schedule for decisions is as follows:

All MSN decisions will be made by December 1.
Traditional DNP decisions will be made by December 8.
Executive DNP decisions will be made on December 20.

We know how hard the waiting is! Hang in there!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

EL-DNP program starts February 2011!

Looking to enhance your leadership skills without pausing your career? Want to learn alongside other nurse executives in a challenging and innovative environment? If this sounds like you, we invite you to apply to the inaugural cohort of the Executive Leadership Doctor of Nursing Practice (EL-DNP).

This dynamic six-semester doctoral program enhances the skill, knowledge, and performance of current healthcare systems leaders. The EL-DNP is an advanced-level practice degree that emphasizes application of research to clinical nursing practice at the highest administrative levels.

Our program provides hassle-free accommodations during teaching intensives. We know that our executive students lead very busy lives. So we’ve included a hotel guest room, most meals, books, and transportation from the hotel to the USF campus into the program cost. Be a part of a groundbreaking program, and apply today!

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