Bureau of Health Professions

The Bureau of Health Professions is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Overview

HRSA’s health professions programs train health care professionals and place them where they are needed most. Many programs aim to increase the diversity of the health professions workforce.

Key Facts

• HRSA promotes the recruitment, training, and placement of a diverse health care workforce in health professional shortage areas throughout the country. HRSA also tracks workforce trends and stimulates curricula improvements at the Nation’s health education institutions.

• In fiscal year (FY) 2006, HRSA funds supported more than 91,000 nursing students with a variety of nursing programs. Federal investments in nursing have more than doubled since FY 2001.

• HRSA is responsible for the process of identifying areas of the country that have a shortage of primary care, dental, and mental health professionals. The Health Professions Shortage Area (HPSA) is a designation used to determine eligibility for a number of programs, including the National Health Service Corps, the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program, and Rural Health Clinic Certification

History

HRSA’s health professions programs began in June 1967 and were originally part of the Public Health Service. Over the next decade, these programs were transferred to the National Institutes of Health. By 1980 the programs were transferred to HRSA’s predecessor, the Health Resources Administration.

Expansion Programs

HRSA supports academic and continuing education projects designed to recruit and retain a strong nursing workforce.

Nurse Education, Practice and Retention Program

The Nurse Education, Practice, and Retention Program has a broad authority with targeted purposes under three priority areas – education, practice, and retention – to help ease the growing nursing shortage.

Advanced Education Nursing Program

HRSA supports projects that enhance advanced nursing education and practice. This program encourages individuals to serve as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, nurse educators, nurse administrators, or public health nurses.

Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment Program

The Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment Program provides Federal support for direct and indirect graduate medical education of interns and residents in freestanding children’s teaching hospitals.

Diversity Programs

Nursing Workforce Diversity Program

The Nursing Workforce Diversity Program increases nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds by providing student stipends and scholarships, pre-entry preparation, and retention activities. The program targets minority nursing students, pre-nursing students, and students in elementary and secondary schools.

Health Careers Opportunity Program

The program is designed to increase the number of individuals from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are studying and working in the health and allied health professions. This program also provides support needed to compete, enter, and graduate from health or allied health professions’ schools, graduate programs in behavior and mental health, and programs to train physician assistants.

Centers Of Excellence

The Centers of Excellence Program provides grants to health professional schools to support educational programs of excellence for underrepresented minority students. These programs strengthen our national capacity to train minority students in health professions.

Scholarships For Disadvantaged Students

HRSA provides funds to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their education and graduation rates and improve their ranks in the health professions.

Training Programs

HRSA provides grants to institutions to ensure an appropriate knowledge base for development of health professions and their professional enhancement and continuing education. These funds also support students and faculty in programs designed to increase the number of nurses, pediatricians, and primary care providers.

Area Health Education Centers

Through Area Health Education Centers, HRSA has established a network of community-based training sites to provide educational services to students, faculty,and practitioners in underserved areas, for improving delivery of health care in the underserved areas.

Geriatric Education Centers

Through Geriatric Education Centers, HRSA helps educate and train health professional faculty, students, and practitioners in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, disability, and other health problems of the aged.

Public Health Training Centers

The Public Health Training Centers Program improves the Nation’s public health system by strengthening the technical, scientific, managerial, and leadership competence of the current and future public health workforce. It emphasizes development of the existing workforce as a foundation for improving the public health infrastructure and provides fundamental training in the core competencies of public health.

Practitioner Data Banks

National Practitioner Data Bank

The National Practitioner Data Bank provides information concerning malpractice payments, adverse licensure, withdrawal of clinical privileges, and other negative actions taken against individual health care practitioners. This information is provided upon request to legally authorized queries.

Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank

The intent of the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank is to combat fraud and abuse in health insurance and health care delivery.

References

[http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov] HRSA Bureau of Health Professions website