My recruiter just reached out to me this morning and said that they released the board selection for Nursing today, so the results for pharmacy should be released soon. Not sure how accurate that is, but I am hopeful.
Airforce HPSP Pharmacy 2018
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Selected!
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Congratulations! I haven't heard anything, does anyone know if I should take that as bad news?
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Same boat. Event asked my recruiter and he said no news yet....
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Mine called me around 7pm today from his home phone and he had the results back for the people he was working with (me and 3 others). If you haven't heard back don't stress, they'll reach out early next week.
mchgapharm
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Same. I haven't heard from my recruiter yet.
That makes me feel better. Still so nervous. My recruiter actually said he didn't have news yet /:
mchgapharm
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I think we might be waiting til Monday, unfortunately.. I'm really nervous too, but just trying to enjoy my weekend!
pharm2table
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I have a neuro/psych module exam on Monday + the anxiety of HPSP results makes for a very unenjoyable weekend. I also have no word from the recruiter, maybe due to a difference in time zones. Now I know who I'll be calling first thing Monday morning!
Congratulations!
Same! Pharmacology and Med Chem next week making it hard to focus and study.
pharm2table
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Not selected. No explanation why. maybe the ~3.4 gpa. I had tons of leadership and hospital work experience on the app too. Congrats to everyone that got selected and good luck in your future careers.
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Congratulations!
I'm sorry to hear that, 3.4 certainly isn't a bad GPA.
My recruiter said he still hasn't heard anything... Maybe the 1-year scholarships aren't finalized yet?
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pharm2table
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yeah I'm pretty disappointed by it. Decided to go to pharmacy school based on the fact I would do everything I could to get HPSP. 3+ years of planning/work in the making. I guess competition was pretty tough this year. Not sure what the alternate/waiting list is like or how many people don't accept their offer. Good luck though. I would give him a call, seems like results are out.
I haven't heard anything yet and I applied for the 2-year.
@pharm2table sorry to hear that
Congrats to those who were selected!!!
mchgapharm
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I haven't heard anything yet and I applied for the 2-year.
@pharm2table sorry to hear that
Congrats to those who were selected!!!
It logged me into facebook and posted as mikch whoops. But I only found out because I called my recruiter. He just got to the office around 1130 when I called him! So I'd definitely give your recruiter a call instead of waiting for an email.
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Just found out I'm the first alternate
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Would any of those selected mind posting their stats and who you got your LOR's from? I am only a P2 so I can apply again next year and I am trying to figure out where I can improve. Thank you!
I am also curious about GPA, leadership roles, and which scholarship you applied for (1 or 2 years). Thank you!
I am also curious about GPA, leadership roles, and which scholarship you applied for (1 or 2 years). Thank you!
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Not sure how relevant this will be since I'm an alternate and not selected outright but here you go.
GPA 3.0, letters from one professor who is retired Air Force, one from my manager, and one peer letter from a classmate. Only participated in a couple pharmacy organizations but I had a lot of volunteer activity outside of class and I'm an Eagle Scout.
Obviously my GPA isn't great and probably hurt quite a bit and I'm fairly sure the volunteer work/scouts is the main reason I was even selected as an alternate. I was told my interview went really well too, I'm sure that had an impact.
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That does help! Thank you
Did you apply for the 1 or 2 year?
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Of course. 1 yearThat does help! Thank you
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mchgapharm
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I applied for the 2 year scholarship. GPA 3.5. Lots of leadership through volunteering, through APhA-ASP, and through our school oncology organization.
My LOR's were from 2 pharmacy managers and 1 CAP faculty I worked really close with at school and at a hepatitis C clinic.
My phone interview went really well and I also shadowed a pharmacist at an AFB for a day which probably helped a lot to show that I knew what I was getting into. The interviewer asked me a lot about my day there during my phone call.
Good luck next year!!
Thank you! How did you set up the shadowing? I have been trying to for months through my recruiter, but no luck.
mchgapharm
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No problem! Is your recruiter not helping you or is the AFB near you not helping you set up a date?
My first recruiter wasn't too responsive, but then they switched out and my "new" recruiter when I started my P2 year was a lot more helpful. He got me in contact with the Chief of education and training and the major for the pharmacy to set up a date.
It's the recruiter. He is in another city, but there is an AFB in my city as well. He really has not been too helpful with it so I am kind of trying to see if there is someone else I can talk to about setting up some shadowing or even just plain finding a new recruiter at this point. It's been a little bit frustrating when he won't even call me back half of the time.
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Currently a P3, selected for the 2 year scholarship
GPA: 3.7 from a top 10 school
My letters of rec were from my current hospital pharmacy manager, undergrad PI, and an undergrad professor. They were all very strong. I asked 5 people in total and my recruiter picked the strongest 3.
The weakest part of my app was that I only joined one student org and didn't participate much in it. I'm not passionate about any of the ones at my school and spent my time doing other things like working on my physical fitness by going to the gym 5-6 days per week for about 2 hours each time. I do this by reading slides on my phone in between sets if anyone was curious; it played a huge role in boosting my GPA.
Interview: This lasted for about 2.5 hours for me and went extremely well, the person gave me a perfect score and was able to write an incredible recommendation for me.
Work experience: 1 year at CVS, 2 years at a hospital where I currently work. Undergrad research for 2 years.
Also, one super important thing to note is that I applied last year as a P2 and was selected as first alternate then. My app was almost exactly the same this year, except I boosted my GPA from a 3.6 to a 3.7. It took a lot of effort and I made that a cornerstone of my application this year.
The Air Force is looking for candidates who are competitive enough to be selected for residency (that was my plan b if HPSP fell through) but want to serve in the military instead. They also filter out people who aren't super passionate about joining. Also, my goal is to spend the entirety of my career in the Air Force, and I made sure to let them know that.
I hope this helps, I'm thinking about making a different post about the process and the exact benefits (because pharmacy ones are hard to find online) after I sign the paperwork.
mchgapharm
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As for the recruiter switch, you probably won't be able to because they're assigned to regions. My recruiter was awesome, but I experienced the same communication issues. He won't call back for a missed call most times (even if I leave a message). I just call again or email him because he's out of the office half the time.
For Shadowing, you can try calling the pharmacy on base directly and explain to the major that you would love to shadow them for a day if possible! They'll probably ask for your Email and then set you up with the right people.
This is awesome! Thank you so much and would be great if you made that post. I would love to hear how the back pay as a P3 works since that will be the path I go.
So my application actually lined up a lot with yours and @mchgapharm. I was on rotation though when I had my interview and it was very quick (during my lunch break because my preceptor didn't want to give me any more time since I had already taken a day off for MEPS) and the person didn't seem to want to talk to me very long. Even my recruiter said he's quick. He actually didn't even ask me any questions, just told me about his career path. He did say he thought I would be a great fit and he would write that into the application for me and then gave me his contact information if I needed anything.
I also think I didn't convey my interest very strongly which was my biggest downfall. My GPA is strong and so are my leadership roles and work experience (I work at a hospital currently and have for 4 years and also at a poison center where I've worked for the last year).
I do think one of my reference letters could have been stronger, but I had a week to get those after I found out about the program. The whole process was very rushed for me because I found out about it so late (early July).
Thank you both so much. You have been very helpful! I know even if I don't get the HPSP, I will still try to join after graduating. And now I just need to keep my GPA up!
mchgapharm
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Sounds like you'll be prepared next year. I started gathering my application materials before the official application for the year was even released so I had quite a bit of time to submit, edit my application, and prepare for my interview. And since you're applying for it again, it'll show that you really do want to pursue the career. Just have to convey that over the phone interview and coordinate a time with your interviewer where you'll be free for about 2 hours! Best of luck to you!!
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Any of the AD or retired guys (@DondeEstaElBano @Caverject ) have any insight on comparing 1 year HPSP vs direct commissioning with the health professions loan repayment program? Trying to see what makes the most financial sense. Seems like 3 years with the HPLRP is $40k/year, ends up being closer to $29k after taxes. Pretty sure that's about identical to what the army offers. Comparing that number (29k x 3 =$87k) to 1 year HPSP (tuition + stipend), is there anything else that I'm missing or to need consider? Once commissioned (either direct or through HPSP) I'm assuming that the other numbers that comprise income are the same (BAH: $1,700/month-$2600/month, BAS: $255/month, base salary: $4,144). Thanks!
@Poison123 I actually reached out to my interviewer in addition to my recruiter after not being selected to see what went wrong. They couldn't give me anything specific other than that competition was ridiculously high this year, and anyone below a 3.5 GPA was at a disadvantage. 1 year HPSP got some preference and less competition cause they are cheaper for the DoD. If my GPA was 0.1 higher, I'd probably have it. I'm president of my university student government, have 5 years of hospital pharmacy experience, created a community outreach service organization 3 years ago that I still run that spreads across several colleges in my area, I run an organization that builds interprofessional cooperativity across healthcare colleges and had an excellent interview (he said he would hand pick me to work at his facility), but still clocked in at a 3.4 GPA due to a screw up P1 year. Sometimes GPA is the quickest way to differentiate 2 people with similar credentials.
@Poison123 I actually reached out to my interviewer in addition to my recruiter after not being selected to see what went wrong. They couldn't give me anything specific other than that competition was ridiculously high this year, and anyone below a 3.5 GPA was at a disadvantage. 1 year HPSP got some preference and less competition cause they are cheaper for the DoD. If my GPA was 0.1 higher, I'd probably have it. I'm president of my university student government, have 5 years of hospital pharmacy experience, created a community outreach service organization 3 years ago that I still run that spreads across several colleges in my area, I run an organization that builds interprofessional cooperativity across healthcare colleges and had an excellent interview (he said he would hand pick me to work at his facility), but still clocked in at a 3.4 GPA due to a screw up P1 year. Sometimes GPA is the quickest way to differentiate 2 people with similar credentials.
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HPSP has the additional benefit of having your commission date being the day you graduate versus direct accession having to wait post graduation to be selected by a board, wait for paperwork, and swear in. For me, that was a 2 and a half month difference that put me in a later promotion zone than those who did HPSP. But that won’t ALWAYS be the case.
Also, HPSP time counts toward your retirement pay - not towards 20 years active duty time, but towards how many years of service you get credited for the pay calculation (so for a 1 year HPSP scholarship, you’ll get an additional 2% of base pay in your monthly pension).
I don’t know what the ramifications are for special pay with each program (which we don’t even know if that will continue moving forward based on MilMed changes). Also take into account that they likely won’t offer 3 year’s loan repayment. I know the recruiters say that and the websites do too, but I don’t think any service has offered more than 2 years for pharmacists in some time.
Knowing what I know about how things are changing with military medicine, I’d take 1 year HPSP if I could get it just to lock in earlier regardless of if it’s “better” or “worse” money wise. If you don’t get it, you get another chance to try with direct accession,
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Can anyone explain to me the process of applying to HPSP? And what year do you think the best to apply for the scholarship?
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What year are you in? Of course, the first step would be to get in contact with a recruiter, they will send you an initial survey for background information and you will be able to begin putting an application packet together. The actual application consists of some paperwork, transcripts, and 3 letters of recommendation as well as medical clearance which requires you to spend a day on base going through MEPS. After you're medically cleared you'll have a phone interview with a current AF pharmacist, then a board selects from the candidates around mid October. Given the timing of the board selection you have to start getting things together in the spring/summer before you're hoping to be selected. For me, I began the process in my P3 year and applied for a 1-year scholarship that would cover what's left of my P4 year but I really wish I had applied a year earlier. If you aren't selected but not disqualified you could also reapply the following year.
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Thank you very much for your reply.
Does the letter of recommendation need to be from a specific professional? And was the interview hard? Also is there a deadline for the application?
Sorry for asking too many questions
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There is a deadline though I can't remember when it was this past year, your recruiter will tell you if you decide to move forward with the application process.Thank you very much for your reply.
Does the letter of recommendation need to be from a specific professional? And was the interview hard? Also is there a deadline for the application?
Sorry for asking too many questions
I was told to have a letter from someone who could speak to my clinical knowledge (so a professor or maybe a preceptor), someone who could speak to work ethic, and one from a peer but there are no official requirements that I know of. I've heard that having at least one from someone who is either actively serving or retired from the Air Force is advantageous.
The interview wasn't hard by any means, I suppose it probably depends on who your interviewer is. For me, it was a little more conversational than I would expect from a typical job interview and it seemed to be more about making sure I knew what I was potentially signing up for than anything.
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mchgapharm
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Thank you very much for your reply.
Does the letter of recommendation need to be from a specific professional? And was the interview hard? Also is there a deadline for the application?
Sorry for asking too many questions
The official deadline for the application seemed to be sometime in mid-september. That's the deadline for a completed application by your recruiter though, not a deadline for you sending things to your recruiter. After the application opens and is sent to you by your recruiter, it's recommended that you finish it within the month and get it sent back so that they can go ahead and start scheduling MEPS/organizing your profile for you. Getting things done and putting the application together ends up taking a really really long time, so it's best to start right when the application becomes available (sometime in march or april).
My recruiter never said anything about a LOR from a peer? I just had 1 faculty and 2 professional LOR's. My interview was also really conversational and relaxed. And like the post above me says, it really is just to see if you speak well and if you know what you're getting yourself into.
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Yeah that came up during my interview so I should have elaborated a little more. My interviewer said she had never seen a student submit a peer letter and asked me why I decided to. Definitely caught me off guard but I think I defended it well enough, she said that even though it was unusual she really liked the different perspective.
Also I have to agree on the timing, the phrase "hurry up and wait" frequently came to mind. No steps were really difficult but making sure everything was submitted on time and you were moving through the process took a bit of work.
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Oct. Scientific American has a full page ad on back cover for Army health professionals....In addition..partially due to mismanagement at all levels the USAF is screaming for pilots. Now if you can hack the physical etc. they might look at a pharmacy grad as a good fit...not sure..ask the recruiters..OR a local Air Guard flying unit...As an aside..recruiters tend to have forked tongues...AND..Air Force pilots are nearly as unhappy as new pharmacy grads...It's a rough world out there...
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During a recent t-con, we were told all three Services are cutting their active-duty pharmacy officers -- dramatically. I'll refrain from posting specific numbers, but it was depressing for a career guy like me. The plan is to reduce numbers by attrition (separations and retirements) as well as allowing fewer direct accessions. The positive aspect of this move is many federal/civilian pharmacist jobs coming open in the coming year(s).
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Do you think this is something that should be very concerning to those of us that are just now looking to join? I believe I had heard somewhere that the Services have somewhat cyclical periods of reducing pharmacy officers which tend to cut too far and leads to greater demand a couple years down the line.
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I can't bring myself to discourage anyone with a desire to serve. I still urge you to apply. As we say, the worst they can say is "no." Plus, this has not been signed off by all the folks it would take to get the ball rolling. Exactly as you stated, cycles do occur and the problem is again exacerbated when we ramp up for war. As GWOT's presence on the news fades and the focus turns to cost-savings, active duty troop numbers are an easy target. Again, I urge you to continue to apply for a commission if you desire to serve.
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Just a little more context to my previous post:
More Than 17,000 Uniformed Medical Jobs Eyed for Elimination
More Than 17,000 Uniformed Medical Jobs Eyed for Elimination
KariPatt2714
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I know it has been a little while since this post was active, but I was wondering if anyone could answer a couple questions for me. I am feeling confused and discouraged. I had planned to apply to HPSP for Navy, Army, and Air Force. Air Force is definitely my top choice, but I would honestly be happy with any of the three because I just want the opportunity to serve my country as a PharmD. I though HPSP was a 4 year program with a minimum 4 year commitment after graduation...? But this post only talks about 1 and 2 year programs. Also, I reached out to an Army recruiter and they said that they do not offer HPSP to PharmD students, only med, dental, and veterinary students. Is this new? Because everything I read online says that PharmD students can apply. I am feeling confused and I don't know what to do next.
KariPatt2714
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Oh also, I am a new Pharmacy student. I start P1 in August, but was hoping to apply for a 4 year scholarship.
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I won't pretend to know all that much about the different options because I started researching HPSP at a time when I only really had the option of a 1 year scholarship. To my knowledge, 1-3 year scholarships are offered by both the Air Force and Navy where you'd essentially be given a scholarship that would cover tuition plus a stipend to cover living expenses. They both come with a 3-year commitment after beginning licensed. There are a few differences between the structure of the programs, though I don't know the specific details.
As far as the Army is concerned, I've heard contradicting things but when I spoke to an actual recruiter I was told that they were not currently offering any scholarships to pharmacy students. The trade-off is that the Army tends to have the best financial benefits (tuition reimbursement) to joining when you're fully qualified.
If you're serious about applying you would have to speak to recruiters in each branch you would want to apply to. The application timeframe means that you wouldn't hear back until November-February so even though you're applying as a P1, you would be a P2 by the time a decision is made and a 3-year scholarship would cover the rest of your time in school.
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Good Questions:
Army has not done an HPSP for Pharmacy in a long time. What most do (and I believe we discussed this) is apply for ROTC at your institute. This will essentially work just like an HPSP with a few more requirements during the summer. Navy and Airforce still do HPSP and is competitive. You’d need to speak with an AMEDD recruiter (army wise) for the exchange from ROTC to an O3 officer status and what that entails.
Cut-backs are happening (was a noncommissioned Officer in the army working in pharmacy and part of an air assault division when I banged up my back repelling from a helicopter. Didn’t give me much of a chance to stay but now collect a pension). Nothing is set in stone yet, but army still has the OCS route of commissioning with license in hand offering 120k loan forgiveness ( ~90k after tax) with 3 year obligation.
I worked closely with chief of pharmacy personnel (airforce, navy, and army) and was part of a panel when looking where to place our new young minted pharmacists. If you have further questions let me know. If you have further questions on Air Force and Navy I can connect you with other personnel to ask questions if you’d like.
KariPatt2714
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Thank you for all the information. I spoke with an Air Force Medical Recruiter this morning and he prequalified me to apply to the HPSP! He is going to send me the application tonight. I would love to stay in touch. This forum has been incredibly helpful to me.
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Good. As others on here, you have a couple options to do with their scholarship program. The faster you get the packet done (will take awhile) the better off youll be. Good luck
