Sure, the Health Professions (indentured) Servitude Program is a good deal financially, but not great if you have no desire whatsoever to wear a uniform and serve your country. No financial reward will be worth it then. But like you said, it's not for everyone, so I will agree with you on this.
However if you are okay with serving, you still have to focus on your FITREPs and collaterals. The priority for good patient care will always be on the back burner. All the physicians and dentists I've worked alongside with who did HPSP when I was in absolutely hated the program, and the only positive thing they had to say was that they were financially going to be okay afterwards. Sure, it was a lot of "grass is greener on the outside" ("oh my colleagues in my surgical specialty/dental field are making so much more than me and they don't have to put up with any BS like I do" type of thing), but I still think it's important to note that yes, it is a financially savvy thing to do, but it's just as important to tell us aspiring pre-dents that it's not for everyone as well. I feel that point isn't as well made on these forums as it should, in my very humble opinion. A surgeon once told me that I should never let patient care get in the way of good admin, and he was right. So if you go to dental school and end up hating dentistry and love the idea of promoting by ditching patient care and doing collaterals that mean jack squat in the big picture, then yes, HPSP is the best thing in the world.
I mean I like the backwards way that I'm doing it: already had a career, joined the military just to serve and not for financial reasons, got out with VA benefits and some life experience, and now wants to change careers, so I'm obviously biased against HPSP and that should be taken into account with my post.
Pay $4,600 per month...$5,800 per month
That first number, in a year, is more money than a lot of Americans make in a year. That second number, in a year, is well more than half of my yearly income right now, and I consider myself well off for my educational level. Y'all are nuts to try to pay that off if you go down that route.
I’d rather work like a dog to pay back the massive student loan debt than living in another country. USA is #1.
That's because you've lived somewhere else and can truly appreciate what this country has to offer. Someone like me, who immigrated here very young, it gets very easy to forget one's roots and how much better off we have it here. Far from perfect, yes, but still pretty good living.
