Your Guide to a Career in Safety Net Healthcare
Six Resources from 3RNET To Set You Up For SuccessÂ
As the Director of Education for the 3RNET, Mandi Gingras spends much of her time each month on the road, giving presentations on the valuable resources 3RNET offers employers, recruiters, and job seekers. “I get called a lot of times to speak both at the state level and nationally. If someone is having a workforce conference, they’ll reach out to me to ask if I can talk about sourcing, or marketing, or retention - all pretty hot topics. There’s really no topic that we don’t touch when it comes to recruiting. We speak to the whole spectrum,” she shared.
One such resource she points to are the guides 3RNET has created to aid job seekers in their search. Two new topics join a library of six total guides aimed at informing candidates about the benefits - and strange terminology - rural and underserved healthcare offers.
“If candidates don’t have all the information to make an informed decision,” Gingras said, “the chances of them staying on and being able to be retained for the long-term with an organization are slimmer. So we want to make sure that candidates are just as informed and they’re making the best decisions on their end.”
Whether you are a health professional seeking answers and tips or a network coordinator looking to build up the resources you can provide to candidates, here’s a look at our guide library:
Loan Repayment
Loan repayment is an enticing benefit of working in rural health, but there are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to accept a position with loan repayment options. Many different programs are available to health professionals through entities like the National Health Service Corps, State Loan Repayment Programs, and Community-Based or Hospital/Health System-Based Loan Repayment programs.
Our Navigating Loan Repayment Programs guide lays out what the different requirements are for each program, what questions health care professionals should be asking before they commit to a job with this benefit, and links to other helpful resources.
Health Professional Shortage Areas
A Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) is a rating system used to determine the highest areas of need for health care providers. It is a federal designation determined through data submitted by a state’s Primary Care Office (PCO) in each state. For health professionals, such designation can be extremely important, as many loan repayment and scholarship programs use HPSAs to determine areas eligible for service. In addition, HPSA scores can tell a lot about the community regarding its geography and patient demographics.
Our guide on Health Professional Shortage Areas helps you learn more about this designation and what it means for health care professionals and employers alike.
Safety Net Health Care Facilities
Facilities designated as “safety net facilities” are rural, urban, public, or nonprofit healthcare organizations with a stated mission or mandate of serving a low-income population regardless of patients’ insurance coverage, ability to pay, or immigration status.
Our Safety Net Health Care Facilities guide helps you understand more about the various types of facilities that fall under this designation and provides resources for the various governmental agencies and associations that support such facilities.
Benefits of Living and Working in Rural Communities
A new guide that is useful for both health care professionals and recruiters, Gingras shared that what she likes about it most is that “It helps candidates to realizes if this is the opportunity for them, if this is the type of work that they’re cut out to do, and if this is a type of environment where they might thrive. On the other side, it helps employers to see a little bit more clearly about some of the benefits that they can put in their marketing that might attract certain candidates.”
You can view the benefits of rural living guide here.
J-1 Visa Waivers
International Medical Graduates (IMG) are authorized to do Graduate Medical Education in the United States under the J-1 visa status. This status requires graduates to return to their home country for two years following their education before they can apply to return to the states. J-1 waivers allow this obligation to be waived by placing graduates in medically underserved areas. This process can be lengthy and confusing, requiring coordination from the employer, the health professional, and an immigration attorney.
Our guide helps professionals and employers navigate the process by sharing which agencies have waivers to offer, providing a suggested timeline of application, and listing useful questions to ask throughout the job search.
Your Healthcare Career Compass
Though a career in healthcare can be very rewarding, navigating the options available and choosing the right path for you can be challenging. This guide is not only for job seekers at the beginning of their career, but also for those looking to make a shift. It provides resources to help you define your interests, build your network, and navigate your career path in healthcare. In addition, we share tips and tricks for listing your job priorities, assessing your skills, and how to create compelling application materials.
“We want to make sure that candidates are informed,” Gingras said, “and that they’re making the best decisions on their end.”
Visit our resources page for professionals to start a well-informed search in rural or underserved healthcare.