Clinical research loan repayment program is administered under the banner of national institute of health (NIH) extra mural loan repayment program. This educational loans program supports research work by scientists, conducting non-profit research outside NIH. The program also supports research work done by NIH employees under the banner of NIH intra mural loan repayment program. The idea behind the Clinical research loan repayment program is that you continue to do your research and NIH will repay your educational loans.

It is the policy of the NIH to encourage outstanding professionals in the health sector to pursue careers in clinical, biomedical, behavioral and social research. If you are engaged in at least two years of qualified research funded by a non -profit domestic organization or US government (federal, state or local) NIH may repay up to $35,000 of your educational loans per year. These government loans repayment benefits are over and above the institutional salary you receive for conducting the research.

If you contemplate doing qualified research outside NIH in a non-profit domestic institution, you would be eligible for any of the following extra mural in a NIH loan repayment program.

- Clinical research

- Health disparities research

- Pediatric research

- Contraception and infertility research

- Clinical research for individual from Disadvantage Background

In brief, clinical research is defined by NIH as patient -oriented research with human subjects or research on cause and consequences of diseases in human population involving material of human origin or developing new technologies, clinical trials, or therapeutic intervention.

The qualified health disparities research is a clinical, basic or behavioral research on a health disparity population. It includes the causes of health disparities and methods to diagnose prevent and treat the diseases. The qualified pediatric research is on diseases and disorders in children and includes pediatric pharmacology.

Infertility research is directed towards evaluating, treating or improving conditions that result in failure of couples to conceive. Improved or new methods for contraception are the subject matters for contraception research. An individual coming from a disadvantaged background is taken as one coming from a family with an income below a certain predetermined level defined by the government. There are guidelines which determine whether an individual can be declared as coming from a disadvantaged background.

In the Clinical research loan repayment program, payments for the educational Government Loans are based on your repayable debt calculated at the beginning of your repayment program. The NIH repays up to 25% of the repayable debt subject to a maximum of $35,000 per year.read more loan repayments