PURPOSE & HOW TO APPLY

MedSend awards grants to repay student loans owed by healthcare professionals while they serve as healthcare missionaries in medically underserved areas of the world. Three times each year, the MedSend board reviews completed applications for healthcare professionals headed for career missionary service.  The application process is open from:

• January 16 – May 1
• May 2 – September 1
• September 2 – January 15

MedSend grants are for four-year terms and are renewable for additional four-year terms.  Our board is willing to consider applications from those who have committed to terms as short as two years, and who are open to a career call.

Eligibility | To be considered, one must:

 •  Show evidence that you have a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and experience communicating this relationship to others.

•  Be called to use your healthcare training to spread the gospel.

•  Be under the authority of a Christian missions sending agency that is a MedSend Associate (as listed here). OR be in the process of applying to a MedSend Associate.  

•  Be within 24 months of leaving for a career of full-time healthcare missions service.

•  Show that you have made an effort to manage your personal finances, including debt, in a way that reflects Christian maturity.

•  Be in the process of paying off your student loans as soon as earning begins, such as during internship, residency or practice. 

• Have at least a bachelor’s degree, plus whatever additional academic and professional training, as well as licensing, they need to practice professionally in their respective medical fields.

Additional criteria our board looks for when reviewing applications include:

 •  You are committing at least 50% of your time to the practice of healthcare (preventive/curative/health education) and a minimum of 20 hours per week.

•  Your service will be among and for the underserved and poor.

•  You have had experience working among the underserved and poor.

•  You are active in a local church.

•  If you are married, information about your spouse, including a separate completed spouse application.

 With regard to student loans, it is desirable that:

 •  You plan to begin repayment as soon as possible, even before repayment is required.

•  You do not allow interest to accrue if you have are in a grace period.

•  You are in the process of paying off student loans with the first dollar earned and that your loan payments are current. PLEASE NOTE:  MedSend will begin making student loan payments for approved and funded grants only when loan payments are current and there are no delinquencies.

If you believe you meet the above requirements, you may begin the application process by clicking here. You will be directed to a website where you can create an account and complete a preliminary application.

Full-length Application

If your preliminary application is approved, you will be invited to complete a full-length application.

Security Levels

At MedSend, our mission requires communicating with our supporters via newsletters, email and our website to let them know about the healthcare professionals who need their grants funded. We want to make the stories as compelling as possible – without breaching any security concerns you may have. With that in mind, we have developed general security levels. On the full-length application, you will be asked to review the levels and check the one that best applies to you.

 Approval and Funding

If your grant is approved, you will be notified and MedSend will begin raising the money to “fund” your grant. We compute the amount necessary to make your monthly payments for the first term, up to four years. When that amount is raised, your grant is considered “funded.” MedSend will take over payment of your student loans as soon as your grant is funded and you go on salary with your MedSend Associate (generally one month prior to departure for the mission field).

Also, if you are approved for a MedSend grant, you will be required to attend a five-day community health workshop, which is held at ECHO in Florida, as well as CMDA’s “Orientation for Medical Missions: Preparing the Medical Missionary.”

Grants are easily renewable for successive terms, assuming no significant changes in your assignment or financial status. MedSend makes the monthly payments for you as you serve (although you retain legal responsibility). We desire to completely pay off your student loans while you commit your healthcare career to serving the underserved in Christ’s name. If you were to return from the mission field early for health or other reasons, your grant would be terminated and you would resume responsibility for your student loan payments. You are responsible for promptly notifying MedSend of any significant change in your status.