Many rural areas of our country are dependent on the NHSC for the delivery of health services. especially those areas that are designated "health manpower shortage areas" [HMSAs]. The program improvements these amendments make will insure that people living in areas without ready access to urban medical centers will still receive the quality medical care they deserve. Currently. the National Health Service Corps has 2.831 assignees serving in the Federal corps. taking advantage of private practice options. or serving assignments in community or migrant health centers. These NHSC personnel are assigned across the country in underserved areas. In other words. the National Health Service Corps helps thousands of elderly who make up a large percentage of the rural population. it helps poor and Hispanic communities which frequently rely on community and migrant health centers for their healthcare needs. and it helps thousands of Indians dependent on the Indian Health Service for health care. In fact. in the IHS alone. 45 percent of the physician workforce is composed of serviceobligated NHSC physicians. However. since 1981. very few scholarships have been awarded under the scholarship program.