Students in health-related undergraduate, masters and doctoral programs can train alongside active duty USPHS officers during their school breaks as part of the Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program.

Participants are paid, and receive health benefits, housing and travel allowances. Programs last between 30 and 120 days. Participants become inactive Public Health Service officers upon completing the program and can activate upon graduation. There is no obligation to join the USPHS Commissioned Corps.

Who is eligible?

• Undergrads with at least two years of study toward a baccalaureate degree in environmental health, engineering, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, dental hygiene, dietetics, medical laboratory technology, medical record administration, or occupational, physical, or respiratory therapy.
• Master’s students who have completed at least one year of graduate study in nursing, a physician assistant program, environmental health, engineering, social work, public health, dietetics, healthcare administration, audiology, speech pathology, or occupational, physical, or respiratory therapy.
• Doctoral students who have completed at least one year of study in a doctoral program for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology, veterinary medicine, speech-language pathology, audiology, research science, or occupational, physical, or respiratory therapy.

Detailed program descriptions, including eligibility and benefits, for both the Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program and a similar program for recent graduates are available here.

Application instructions: Before initiating the preliminary screening questionnaire, you should read the “Ready to Apply Guidance/Instructions” on the USPHS How to Apply page (about 2/3 of the way down). They contain detailed information to assist you in applying. There is also a flow chart of the application process at the bottom of the page.

When ready, apply here. You must create an account to apply.