Must be a member or descendant of a federally recognized, state recognized, or terminated American Indian Tribe or Alaska Native village
Be a high school graduate or equivalent
Have a minimum 2.0 GPA
Be capable of completing a health profession degree program
Intend to serve Indian people as a health professional in your chose discipline
More Details
The Indian Health Service (IHS) offers three scholarships for American Indian and Alaska Native students in order to educate and train health professionals to staff Indian health programs.
Employment Policies
Indian health professionals are required to follow program employment policies in order to successfully complete their service commitment.
Position Start Date
Your Indian health career must begin within 90 days of graduation or completion of your post-graduate clinical training.
If you are a high school senior who is soon headed to college or university, eligible participants will be considered based on the following factors:
Grades
Volunteer and leadership history
Recommendations from teachers and/or school counselors
If you are currently enrolled in an educational program that is in a traditional collegiate medical field, you must meet the following requirements in order to be eligible for this scholarship:
Must possess a cumulative collegiate GPA of 2.5 or higher
Must be enrolled full-time in a health profession school, complementary, and/or alternative medicine program
If you’re currently striving towards a licensure via non-collegiate training program, you must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this scholarship:
Must have completed and been accepted for your Application for Official Licensure
Must be a Native American student who can provide documentation of enrollment in a federally recognized tribe, member of a state recognized tribe in WA,OR, ID, or MT, or descendancy of a federally or state recognized tribe in WA, OR, ID, or MT.
Must be an undergraduate, graduate, or professional students enrolled in the health sciences including Pharmacy, Pre-Pharmacy, Medicine, all Pre-Med disciplines (e.g. biochemistry, neuroscience), and/or Nursing. Students may be enrolled at any of the WSU campuses.
Priority may be given to students from tribes who have signed the MOU for creation of the WSU Native America Advisory Board to the President.
Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Yakama Indian Nation, Colville Confederated Tribes, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Kootenai Tribe of Indians, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Kalispel Tribe of Indians, Spokane Tribe of Indians, Quinault Indian Nation, and any Tribes that join this MOU in the future.
Priority may be given to students from tribes who are founding partners for this scholarship:
Chehalis Confederated Tribes, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Mohegan Tribe, Swinomish Tribe, and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
When needed, the pool of applicants may be refined by prioritizing students with the highest level of unmet financial need.
When needed, the pool of applicants may be further refined by giving first priority to a member of the Nez Perce Tribe.
Application Process:
Application Packet:
Completed application (put link in here to the electronic application page)
One recommendation letter that speaks to the applicant’s leadership skills, community involvement, and commitment to health equity. The letter may come from a faculty or staff member or supervisor.
Documentation of enrollment in a federally recognized tribe, member of a state recognized tribe in WA, OR, ID, or MT, or descendancy of a federally recognized or state recognized tribe in WA, OR, ID, or MT
It is recommended that you provide a list of campus and community volunteer activities. Please note if you held a leadership role.
To be considered for the scholarship, applicants need to submit written responses to three questions.
Please describe what influenced your decision to pursue a career as a health professional.
How do you intend to serve American Indian/Alaska Native communities in your chosen health profession?
Briefly explain your thoughts about health equity and your commitment to health equity as a student and as a professional?
The Cancer Scholarship is open to all college applicants planning to study medicine, public health, toxicology, or another related field. Eligibility guidelines include:
A minimum GPA of 3.0
Being admitted to or currently attending a college or university
How to Apply:
Applicants are to write a policy brief to their Congressperson or local politician detailing the gaps in the current policy and why increased regulations will be good for public health.
The length for the submission is 1,000 words. Applicants must submit their essays in PDF format along with their application.
Further submission guidelines can be found on the scholarship’s website
Applicants must provide proof that they have been accepted into a research position in biology or medical-related lab on a full-time or substantial part-time basis (minimum 9 credit hours worth of research work for the next two semesters).
Must obtain and submit a letter of recommendation – either from a teacher/ tutor/ or lecturer who knows the student well or from an employer in a relevant healthcare services niche (must be signed and on letterhead to be accepted).
Must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.60 on a 4.0 scale.
How to Apply:
Certain additional materials are required for your application to be considered.
A response (at least 500 words) to this essay question: Explain your reason(s) for applying for a scholarship and why you feel you should receive one, and the type of career in the healthcare or biomedical related industry you plan to pursue and your future goals.
You may upload the following items when completing your online application:
A copy of your current college or high school transcript. If you are a graduating senior, your transcript must include grades for your senior year. Unofficial copies are acceptable; report cards are not.
You must also include a letter of acceptance from the healthcare or biomedical related post-secondary program you will attend.
Optionally you can submit an abstract of your research. Those with meritorious research subjects and are currently engaging in research will be considered first.
Please submit your material to support@bosterbio.com
All application materials must be RECEIVED on or before 05/31/2020 to be eligible.
We will select the winner on 06/30/2020 and send funds by check. For more information, please contact: support@bostercio.com
Be United States citizens or legal residents living or claiming residency in one of the 50 united states, Washington, D.C. or Puerto Rico.
Be current high school senior, undergraduate, or graduate students who plan to enroll full-time in an accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the United States for the entire 2020-2021 academic year.
Demonstrate ambition and self-drive as evidenced by outstanding achievement in school, and participation and leadership in school activities and work experience.
Demonstrate interest in pursuing a career and enrolled in the following majors: Athletic Training, Psychology, Biology, Kinesiology, Nursing, General Medicine, Dentistry, Behavioral Sciences, Personal Training, Physical Education Teaching and Coaching, Health and Physical Fitness, Exercise Science, Sports and Recreation Management, Health Sciences, Physical Therapist, or another health- related major.
When is the program open period?
Only the first 1,000 scholarship applications will be considered. If the program reaches 1,000 scholarship applications before the deadline date of August 1st, 2023, then the program will automatically close. Your scholarship application MUST be one of the first 1,000 submitted electronically.
How do I apply?
To begin, click on the Apply for a Scholarship link at the bottom of the scholarship providers website.
Within that Application you will need to write essays addressing the following questions
Describe your outstanding achievement in school. Maximum 500 words.
Describe your participation and leadership in school activities, the community, and work experiences. Maximum 1000 words
Pretend that you were recently hired by the government to develop new public policy to end diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. What factors contribute to these health problems? What specific steps will you take to overcome them? What obstacles do you foresee while trying to institute the new policy? Maximum 1500 words.
Must complete the WSU General Scholarship Application by January 31 prior to the start of the academic year. There is no additional application process.
Resident of Washington State.
Students who have completed at least their first year of higher education.
Full-time students majoring in Engineering, Sciences, Pre-Medicine, or Pre-Dentistry.