Opportunity Overview
The Hawaiʻi/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center has opened the 2026 Hawaiʻi Outreach for Medical Education in Rural Under-resourced Neighborhoods (HOME RUN) Education Award. The program pays qualifying healthcare-training tuition in exchange for a commitment to work full time in rural Hawaiʻi for five years after graduation.
This is an individual healthcare-workforce education award, not an organizational provider grant or technology-vendor solicitation.
Funding and Deadline
Funding: qualifying healthcare-training tuition. The controlling 2026 application does not state a per-applicant maximum award.
Deadline: the 2026 application is currently open, but the controlling application does not publish a closing date or time. Applicants should rely on the live application and program office for any later deadline notice.
Who May Apply
Rural geographic eligibility (official October 2026 clarification): All Neighbor Island communities qualify as rural. On Oʻahu, the eligible rural service-area ZIP codes are 96792 (Waiʻanae), 96786 (Wahiawā), 96795 (Waimānalo), 96717 (Hauʻula), 96762 (Lāʻie), 96731 (Kahuku), 96712 (Haleʻiwa), and 96791 (Waialua). Applicants should confirm residency, training, and post-graduation service-site requirements in the current application. Official HOME RUN program clarification.
Applicants must be in good standing with at least a C average in a healthcare education or health-IT training program that leads to licensure or certification to practice in Hawaiʻi. Eligible applicants must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and must satisfy the program’s requirements concerning federal debt, debarment, and conflicting service obligations.
The program lists a broad range of eligible professions, including medicine, nursing, physician assistant, behavioral health, dentistry, pharmacy, rehabilitation, laboratory, respiratory care, medical assisting, school psychology, social work, and other clinical or health-IT professions.
Rural Service Commitment
Award recipients must commit to at least five years of full-time service, defined by the application as at least 36 hours per week, at a site serving patients in rural Hawaiʻi after completing training. Participants may change employers as long as qualifying rural Hawaiʻi service continues. The application also encourages workforce-development activity such as teaching, health-career recruitment, and community health outreach.
Application Requirements
The application is completed online. Supporting materials must be submitted in PDF format through the program’s Dropbox process; emailed or in-person application materials are not accepted. Required materials include an acceptance letter or recent transcript, government-issued identification, a brief rural Hawaiʻi and healthcare-career statement, and a signed recommendation letter with contact information.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 92/100. This is a strong Hawaiʻi-specific healthcare workforce opportunity with a direct rural-retention objective and broad coverage of licensed and certified health professions. Its principal constraints are the five-year service commitment, individual rather than organizational eligibility, and the absence of a published closing date or per-applicant ceiling in the current application.
Next Action
Eligible healthcare and health-IT trainees who are prepared to make the five-year rural Hawaiʻi service commitment should review the live application, assemble the required supporting documents, and confirm any program-specific questions directly with the Hawaiʻi/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center.
Official application: HOME RUN 2026 Application.
Official funding page: Hawaiʻi RHTP Funding Opportunities.