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From: Queen, Susan G (HRSA) [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 2:20 PM
To: Matsuoka, Karen Y.
Cc: Wright-Solomon, Lisa (HRSA)
Subject: Chiro question
Hi Karen,
I am sending you in the body of this email the program’s response to the question you sent
recently about the Chiro project. Please let me know if this response addresses your concerns,
or if you require anything further for your review. (I’ve inserted your actual question below,
followed by the response.) Thanks.

Great. On a separate but related note, what will this mean regarding the study's
ability to evaluate the significance of the NHSC award in helping centers/clinics
recruit physicians to work in underserved areas? If clinicians already work in
underserved areas when they apply for the award, wouldn't that suggest the award
itself did not have much impact in their decision to work in underserved areas? Isn't
this the central question this study wants to answer?
This question seems to ask how the study will measure demonstration results when some
of the chiropractors and pharmacists were working at the clinics before they received an
NHSC loan repayment award. We also know anecdotally that during the recruitment
process clinics tell clinicians that the site will help them apply for an NHSC loan
repayment award. We recognize that having a clinican at a site prior to an award is an
issue, which is why we have a question on the survey that will tell us if the clinician was
already employed at the site, and for how long, so this information will be included in the
overall descriptive findings. We also have a question that asks if they would have
continued to work at the clinic if you had not received the NHSC loan repayment award.
One of the central questions of this study is whether chiropractors and pharmacists
should be part of the NHSC loan repayment program. Specifically, Congress specified
that the evaluation study “…whether adding chiropractic doctors and pharmacists as
permanent members of the National Health Service Corps would be feasible and would
enhance the effectiveness of the National Health Service Corps.” Through this
evaluation of the demonstration, we will gain descriptive information to respond to this
question.

Susan G. Queen, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, Research and Data Policy Group
Office of Planning and Evaluation
Health Resources and Services Administration
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10-33
Rockville, MD. 20857
(301) 443-1129
[email protected]