A few questions about HPSP

[SomeRandomGuy]

I'm currently a MS1 and am thinking about doing HPSP with the Navy for 2 years of support. My recruiter tells me that 2 years of benefits while I'm in med school will only result in 2 years of payback after residency. But after reading this site I'm realizing that it might be a lot longer. Here's a hypothetical situation, if I do receive HPSP for 2 years and get into a civilian residency, would I just end up with 2 years of active duty in the Navy after residency? And then 2 or 4 years of inactive reserve duty? Finally, would this whole process affect board accredation at all?

Thanks for your help!

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[The White Coat Investor]

I'm currently a MS1 and am thinking about doing HPSP with the Navy for 2 years of support. My recruiter tells me that 2 years of benefits while I'm in med school will only result in 2 years of payback after residency. But after reading this site I'm realizing that it might be a lot longer. Here's a hypothetical situation, if I do receive HPSP for 2 years and get into a civilian residency, would I just end up with 2 years of active duty in the Navy after residency? And then 2 or 4 years of inactive reserve duty? Finally, would this whole process affect board accredation at all?

Thanks for your help!

Read the site instead of talking to your recruiter. I haven't heard of any 2 years scholarships, but they could be new. What you should expect with a 2 year scholarship is 2 years active duty and 6 years of IRR time for a total of 8 years commitment. It will affect board accreditation only insomuch as it affects your ability to acquire residency training and get good residency training, both of which are big issues for the scholarship. Read the stickies.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

The minimum active duty service obligation for HPSP, regardless of the number of years of benefits received, is 3 years. In addition to that, all commissioned officers must serve for a minimum total of 8 years. So, whatever time is not served on active duty must be served in the IRR.

I encourage you to do your research before signing any contracts/service agreements.

 

[SeminoleFan3]

Also, you mentioned a civilian residency. The chances of that are fairly slim.

 

[NavyFP]

I'm currently a MS1 and am thinking about doing HPSP with the Navy for 2 years of support. My recruiter tells me that 2 years of benefits while I'm in med school will only result in 2 years of payback after residency. But after reading this site I'm realizing that it might be a lot longer. Here's a hypothetical situation, if I do receive HPSP for 2 years and get into a civilian residency, would I just end up with 2 years of active duty in the Navy after residency? And then 2 or 4 years of inactive reserve duty? Finally, would this whole process affect board accredation at all?

Thanks for your help!

Yes, there are 2 year scholarships. Should you accept a 2 year scholarship you would incur a 2 year training obligation and a 3 year minimum service obligation. The minimum service obligation implies that you must be on active duty in any capacity (this is where internship in the military actually counts.) for 3 years. So feasibly you could do your internship and 2 years as a GMO and be out. If you were to get a full deferment and do a civilian residency, you would have to serve 3 years after completion. From the day you start active duty, your IRR clock starts. Eight years after your first day of active duty (after med school, time in school does not count) you can completely part company from the service.

Should you take the signing bonus of $20K, you would incur a 4 year minimum service obligation.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

Should you take the signing bonus of $20K, you would incur a 4 year minimum service obligation.

Thanks for the mentioning that...I forgot to include it in my previous post!

 

[Mirror Form]

If you do a 2 year residency (not including internship) then your recruiter will be right. However, you'll still owe IRR. Also, if you decide not to do a 2 year residency (many residencies are not 2 years) then you'll owe more.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

If you do a 2 year residency (not including internship) then your recruiter will be right. However, you'll still owe IRR. Also, if you decide not to do a 2 year residency (many residencies are not 2 years) then you'll owe more.

Which residencies ARE 2 years again?

 

[edmadison]

Which residencies ARE 2 years again?

Remember that internship is obligation neutral. So any three year residency will incur only a two year training obligation. This can be served at the same time as you two year scholarship obligation. Of course, you risk getting stuck in GMO land as well.

Ed

 

[SomeRandomGuy]

Thanks for the quick replies. That really helped me get this whole thing straight. Though it conflicts with what the recruiter says.

Here's an answer to one of my questions:
1.) So if I'm planning to receive 2 years of the scholarship during
medical school what exactly are the obligations? If you take the 20k
sign on bonus you will owe 3 years for the scholarship

Is that right? I'm just kind of confused. Are everyone's contract different or the same? Is there a place that I can look at a current one?

 

[Mirror Form]

Which residencies ARE 2 years again?

Internal medicine, FP, and peds are the main ones (since internship is a wash).

 

[Mirror Form]

Thanks for the quick replies. That really helped me get this whole thing straight. Though it conflicts with what the recruiter says.

Here's an answer to one of my questions:
1.) So if I'm planning to receive 2 years of the scholarship during
medical school what exactly are the obligations? If you take the 20k
sign on bonus you will owe 3 years for the scholarship

Is that right? I'm just kind of confused. Are everyone's contract different or the same? Is there a place that I can look at a current one?

they're intentionally confusing, just like student loans. I have no idea about the what happens if you take teh 20k sign on bonus. That definitely isn't enough cash to sign on for a whole extra year though. But, if you're planning on doing a 4 year post med school training program (and consequently a 3 year residency) then you'll owe at least 3 years coming out of that anyway.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

Thanks for the quick replies. That really helped me get this whole thing straight. Though it conflicts with what the recruiter says.

Here's an answer to one of my questions:
1.) So if I'm planning to receive 2 years of the scholarship during
medical school what exactly are the obligations? If you take the 20k
sign on bonus you will owe 3 years for the scholarship

Is that right? I'm just kind of confused. Are everyone's contract different or the same? Is there a place that I can look at a current one?

HPSP - Minimum service obligation for benefits is 3 years (applies to the individuals who receive HPSP med school scholarship benefits for either 1, 2, or 3 years.

Now, if you were to receive HPSP benefits for a full 4 year program, OR, if you accept the $20,000 accession bonus, your minimum service obligation would be 4 years.

 

[SomeRandomGuy]

I see. So it's possible to receive the scholarship for 3 years without the signon bonus, go to a civilian residency while delaying payback for 3 years, and finally going to active duty in the military for 3 years. However, it's probably pretty difficult to land a civilian residency and if that happens I'll be in either a military residency or have to go into a GMO. The best case scenario after med school would be 3 years civilian residency, 3 years active duty, and finishing up my obligation IRR for 5 years after that right?

 

[Mirror Form]

The best case scenario after med school would be 3 years civilian residency, 3 years active duty, and finishing up my obligation IRR for 5 years after that right?

Depends, if the military has a good residency program in your desired specialty then it's to your advantage to do it within the military system (much higher pay and better connections for getting a good assignment).

So, if you take a 2 year hpsp scholarship, and then do a 3 year gme program (i.e., internship plus two more years), you'd then only owe 2 years active duty after residency, followed by only 3 years of IRR.

In theory that should work, but I don't know anyone who took a 2 year hpsp scholarship, so for all I know there could be some technicalities that I don't know about.

 

[SomeRandomGuy]

Depends, if the military has a good residency program in your desired specialty then it's to your advantage to do it within the military system (much higher pay and better connections for getting a good assignment).

GME is not the same as residency right? If so I've never heard of any residencies less than 3 years long. And what are good military residencies in your opinion? In particular residencies in the Air Force.

 

[a1qwerty55]

GME is not the same as residency right? If so I've never heard of any residencies less than 3 years long. And what are good military residencies in your opinion? In particular residencies in the Air Force.

GME stands for Graduate Medical Education - a catch all phrase for internship, residency and fellowships.

I know of no military residencies at least which have a civilian equivalent which are less than 3 years (inclusive of internship aka "first year resident")

 

[sethco]

GME stands for Graduate Medical Education - a catch all phrase for internship, residency and fellowships.

I know of no military residencies at least which have a civilian equivalent which are less than 3 years (inclusive of internship aka "first year resident")

I believe Occ Med and Prev Med are 2 year residencies (not sure if you need an internship first though). In addition, these specialties favor docs that are already residency trained, so not sure how much this "2 year residency" applies.

 

[dtn3t]

I believe Occ Med and Prev Med are 2 year residencies (not sure if you need an internship first though). In addition, these specialties favor docs that are already residency trained, so not sure how much this "2 year residency" applies.

They do require transition internships beforehand, so three years total (granted, the 2nd year is an MPH year). And at least in the Army, many of those getting picked up are right out of med school. If you are residency trained already, then yes, it is only a 2 year residency. Unless you have an MPH - then it's one.

 

[SomeRandomGuy]

I really appreciate all the help here. It's given me a much better picture of what's going on. With that said, I just have 1 final question: If you don't match into a military residency of your choice and also do not receive a civilian deferment, then are you required to attend a 3 yr GMO tour (navy) or have a stint as a Flight Surgeon (army)?

 

[TheGoose]

Yes, there are 2 year scholarships. Should you accept a 2 year scholarship you would incur a 2 year training obligation and a 3 year minimum service obligation. The minimum service obligation implies that you must be on active duty in any capacity (this is where internship in the military actually counts.) for 3 years. So feasibly you could do your internship and 2 years as a GMO and be out. If you were to get a full deferment and do a civilian residency, you would have to serve 3 years after completion. From the day you start active duty, your IRR clock starts. Eight years after your first day of active duty (after med school, time in school does not count) you can completely part company from the service.

Should you take the signing bonus of $20K, you would incur a 4 year minimum service obligation.

First off, hi, ive been lurking for a while and now its time to post.

I decided to do a search before i submitted a new thread and found pretty much exactly what i was looking for in this thread, but id like some clarification if anyone's willing to throw it out there.

Im considering doing a 2 year HPSP and then immediately following internship doing a GMO tour to complete my commitment and then going to the civilian world to complete a residency program. Two major questions: 1) Is my understanding of the information provided by navydoc correct (1yr intern 2yr GMO and AD commitment is met)? and 2) were one to follow that path, will civilian programs accept 3-4 year old scores on the boards(residency placement test scores? dont know if theyre called the boards or if im jumbling jargin) for residency placements? i wouldnt even be opposed to re-doing an internship in civilian hosptial.

Really appreciate any input. I hope i made myself clear but if anything got lost in translation feel free to ask me what i meant =/ Thanks again everyone, this site is what it is because of the great people submitting.

-Alex

 

[Mirror Form]

GME is not the same as residency right? If so I've never heard of any residencies less than 3 years long. And what are good military residencies in your opinion? In particular residencies in the Air Force.

The military likes to refer to internship as FYGME and residency as GME.

I don't understand how people can't seem to mentally separate internship from residency when adding up obligation time.

 

[Mirror Form]

I really appreciate all the help here. It's given me a much better picture of what's going on. With that said, I just have 1 final question: If you don't match into a military residency of your choice and also do not receive a civilian deferment, then are you required to attend a 3 yr GMO tour (navy) or have a stint as a Flight Surgeon (army)?

yep, but you can re-apply after your first 1 or 2 year gmo tour. But, as mentioned above, if you go into a residency longer then your remaining commitement . . .

 

[Mirror Form]

1) Is my understanding of the information provided by navydoc correct (1yr intern 2yr GMO and AD commitment is met)?

Unless there is some technicality w/ the 2 year HPSP scholarship that I'm not aware of, then the answer is yes. However, you'll still owe IRR time. Therefore, you'll have a risk of being pulled out of residency.

and 2) were one to follow that path, will civilian programs accept 3-4 year old scores on the boards(residency placement test scores? dont know if theyre called the boards or if im jumbling jargin) for residency placements? i wouldnt even be opposed to re-doing an internship in civilian hosptial.

lol, they would not make you re-take your licensing exams (step 1, 2, and 3)

 

[TheGoose]

^^ thanks. as for the licensing exam questions im still in that phase where they tell you mcat scores are only valid for X amount of years and havent got my head into the post-med school scene yet. Appreciate the answers. =D

 

[NavyFP]

I'm currently a MS1 and am thinking about doing HPSP with the Navy for 2 years of support. My recruiter tells me that 2 years of benefits while I'm in med school will only result in 2 years of payback after residency. But after reading this site I'm realizing that it might be a lot longer. Here's a hypothetical situation, if I do receive HPSP for 2 years and get into a civilian residency, would I just end up with 2 years of active duty in the Navy after residency? And then 2 or 4 years of inactive reserve duty? Finally, would this whole process affect board accredation at all?

Thanks for your help!

Under your plan, you would owe 3 years. Any military contract comes with a 3 year minimum service obligation(MSO). If you do a civilian residency, you would still owe 3 years. If you did a military intership, that would count towards the MSO. With the 2 year HPSP you have a 2 year training obligation and a 3 year MSO. Your HPSP should not affect board accreditation.