Health Careers Opportunity Program: The National HCOP Academies

This notice solicits applications for the FY 2018 Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) hereinafter referred to as the National HCOP Academies. The purpose of this grant program is to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter a health profession through the development of academies that will support and guide them through the educational pipeline. Based on Section 739 of the Public Health Service Act, academies are expected to focus on: 1) promoting the recruitment of qualified individuals from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds into health professions, including allied health programs; 2) improving retention, matriculation and graduation rates by implementing tailored enrichment programs designed to address the academic and social needs of economically or educationally disadvantaged students; and 3) providing opportunities for community-based health professions training in primary care settings, emphasizing experiences in rural and underserved communities. The National HCOP Academies will focus on three key milestones of education: 1) high school graduation, and matriculation into a two or four-year college/university (including allied health professions programs); 2) graduation from a two-year or four-year college/university (including allied health professions programs); and 3) matriculation into graduate-level health professions programs, retention and completion of a graduate-level health professions or allied health professions program (e.g., post-baccalaureate programs).