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Anyone interested in getting paid to go to medical school!
- Thread starter Bordeaux
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During your interview there you will learn that it might not be as sweet a deal as you think. You owe them 7 years active duty AFTER completing residency, and during that time you could be stationed anywhere you are needed. That means you could be up to a year at time in Afghanistan, or other similar places where your family cannot travel with you. If you don't have a family, it's no big deal. But you never know what your life will be like 7 years from now. After 4 years of med school, and at least 3 years residency, then you'll START your payback. I really liked the school and the students there seemed really great and helpful, but it's definitely not for everyone. Even though I'm currently a captain in the army reserve, I don't think I could plan the next decade of my life committed to the military. However, if you want a career in the military, USUHS is a great place and it will help you have an excellent career. Good luck in whatever you choose!
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Hey Barb (and others):
I was wondering what you think about the military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which basically pays for med school & gives you a stipend, in return for one year of service for each year that you are in the program. (minimum 2 yr commitment for Army/2 yr commitment fro Navy) I have no idea what it's like to be a doc in the Armed Forces. Does the military really ship you all over the world, or do you generally stay in one place? I can't figure out if it's a good deal or not; if i do decide to take the scholarship, i need to decide how many years I should partcipate in the program.
Thanx,
Marmot
I was wondering what you think about the military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which basically pays for med school & gives you a stipend, in return for one year of service for each year that you are in the program. (minimum 2 yr commitment for Army/2 yr commitment fro Navy) I have no idea what it's like to be a doc in the Armed Forces. Does the military really ship you all over the world, or do you generally stay in one place? I can't figure out if it's a good deal or not; if i do decide to take the scholarship, i need to decide how many years I should partcipate in the program.
Thanx,
Marmot
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I heard that one drawback to the Armed forces medical route is that once you are done with your service requirement, it's difficult to get hired in civilian hospitals. I think the reasoning was that the doctors in uniformed services don't have as much experience in dealing with civilian patients. I mean, the doctor-patient relationship is prolly a lot different if you are someone's doctor but also their superior- when you give a lower ranked officer medicine, they HAVE to take it because it's an ORDER.
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!
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I heard that one drawback to the Armed forces medical route is that once you are done with your service requirement, it's difficult to get hired in civilian hospitals. I think the reasoning was that the doctors in uniformed services don't have as much experience in dealing with civilian patients. I mean, the doctor-patient relationship is prolly a lot different if you are someone's doctor but also their superior- when you give a lower ranked officer medicine, they HAVE to take it because it's an ORDER.
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!
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I was on a 3-year HPSP scholarship for optometry school. I received a stipend monthly (about $900, it's up to about $1000 or so now), and for 6 weeks each year I got paid as an active duty officer on a 45 day rotation (they like you to actually do the rotation at a hospital somewhere, but if you're school schedule doesn't permit this, then you just get paid to stay at school). I also got reimbursed for books and supplies. It was a nice deal for me for optometry school, because my debt is minimal, and this has allowed me to pursue medicine. HPSP for medicine is a little different, because there is a residency involved. If you do HPSP for medicine, you will most likely end up doing a residency in a military hospital.
Of course there are some ups and down in the military service, whether it's USUHS or HPSP. Yes, you could end up being deployed. However, realize that you will be a doctor. Nobody is going to hand you a weapon and tell you to take this platoon forward and charge that hill. Is it dangerous? A little. You may be forward deployed, but it's all for field medicine. Trust me, nobody is going to forget you are a doctor and try to send you to the infantry. There is also another big plus to military residency: the money. It's a more comfortable salary while in residency. Sure, you won't make tons of cash after residency, but it's a comfortable living. If you want champagne and caviar, then maybe military service is not for you. But if you want a decent salary without dealing with HMOs or billing issues, it's not a bad way to go. Another bonus: say you really want a residency that is competive, and you don't get it. After your internship year you could go on for a one or two year assignment as a GMO (general medical officer). This could be anywhere from Bosnia to Korea to the Pentagon. After you do a GMO you could reapply to the residency and you could be more competetive.
That being said, I applied to USUHS. It's almost a no-brainer for me. I already have some military service, and I live in the area already. In fact, I work at Walter Reed, one of the hospitals affiliated with USUHS. If anyone wants to ask anymore questions about the military, the DC area, or USUHS, I will be happy to share what I know.
Of course there are some ups and down in the military service, whether it's USUHS or HPSP. Yes, you could end up being deployed. However, realize that you will be a doctor. Nobody is going to hand you a weapon and tell you to take this platoon forward and charge that hill. Is it dangerous? A little. You may be forward deployed, but it's all for field medicine. Trust me, nobody is going to forget you are a doctor and try to send you to the infantry. There is also another big plus to military residency: the money. It's a more comfortable salary while in residency. Sure, you won't make tons of cash after residency, but it's a comfortable living. If you want champagne and caviar, then maybe military service is not for you. But if you want a decent salary without dealing with HMOs or billing issues, it's not a bad way to go. Another bonus: say you really want a residency that is competive, and you don't get it. After your internship year you could go on for a one or two year assignment as a GMO (general medical officer). This could be anywhere from Bosnia to Korea to the Pentagon. After you do a GMO you could reapply to the residency and you could be more competetive.
That being said, I applied to USUHS. It's almost a no-brainer for me. I already have some military service, and I live in the area already. In fact, I work at Walter Reed, one of the hospitals affiliated with USUHS. If anyone wants to ask anymore questions about the military, the DC area, or USUHS, I will be happy to share what I know.
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jintonic,
I don't know where you heard that about "difficulty getting hired as a civilian," but don't believe it. You have to understand a few things about the military. First, just because you outrank someone, you may not be in their chain of command. So that concept of being someone's "superior" is not as applicable as you think. Also, military doctors also see patients that outrank them. But guess what, when a 4-star general comes to see me (I'm an optometrist), guess who is in charge while he is in my chair? Me! If I want the General to look any particular direction, I say "Sir, look up." And he does it. If I say "Sir, you need to wear your glasses all the time," he says "ok doc, whatever you say." Trust me, the concept of "superiority" doesn't enter into the patient care arena like you think.
Apart from taking care of active duty military service members, we also take care of dependents, retirees, and dependents of retirees. I see PLENTY of civilians. Furthermore, USUHS doesn't just rotate their students through military hospitals; they also rotate through a number of civilian hospitals. Don't underestimate military medicine or military physicians.
I don't know where you heard that about "difficulty getting hired as a civilian," but don't believe it. You have to understand a few things about the military. First, just because you outrank someone, you may not be in their chain of command. So that concept of being someone's "superior" is not as applicable as you think. Also, military doctors also see patients that outrank them. But guess what, when a 4-star general comes to see me (I'm an optometrist), guess who is in charge while he is in my chair? Me! If I want the General to look any particular direction, I say "Sir, look up." And he does it. If I say "Sir, you need to wear your glasses all the time," he says "ok doc, whatever you say." Trust me, the concept of "superiority" doesn't enter into the patient care arena like you think.
Apart from taking care of active duty military service members, we also take care of dependents, retirees, and dependents of retirees. I see PLENTY of civilians. Furthermore, USUHS doesn't just rotate their students through military hospitals; they also rotate through a number of civilian hospitals. Don't underestimate military medicine or military physicians.
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Does anyone know how strict the technical standards are at USUHS? I thought I read somewhere that if you have something like asthma or diabetes, you're disqualified from serving? I can understand why they might do that, it being the military and all, but I just wondered if it was true. 
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I don't know about USUHS, but I had my HPSP physical this spring, and I can tell you that the Army is pretty sticky about asthma and other health problems. That said, though, I think depending on your job (in our case, doctors), there are waivers you can get to get around some of these issues. I'm not sure how easy it is to get them for various conditions, though, since I don't have anything that would require one.
Also, if anyone's interested, I just finished the application process and received an Army HPSP scholarship, so I'll be happy to answer whatever questions I can.
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Wahoo07:
•Does anyone know how strict the technical standards are at USUHS? I thought I read somewhere that if you have something like asthma or diabetes, you're disqualified from serving? I can understand why they might do that, it being the military and all, but I just wondered if it was true. •••••
Also, if anyone's interested, I just finished the application process and received an Army HPSP scholarship, so I'll be happy to answer whatever questions I can.
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Wahoo07:
•Does anyone know how strict the technical standards are at USUHS? I thought I read somewhere that if you have something like asthma or diabetes, you're disqualified from serving? I can understand why they might do that, it being the military and all, but I just wondered if it was true.
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the catch:
•••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•You owe them 7 years active duty AFTER completing residency, and during that time you could be stationed anywhere you are needed. That means you could be up to a year at time in Afghanistan, or other similar places where your family cannot travel with you.•••••However, another pro to this is that you do get to see the world? My friend who's in the Navy loves it because he's received so much. To me, it's not worth the time commitment.
•••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•You owe them 7 years active duty AFTER completing residency, and during that time you could be stationed anywhere you are needed. That means you could be up to a year at time in Afghanistan, or other similar places where your family cannot travel with you.•••••However, another pro to this is that you do get to see the world? My friend who's in the Navy loves it because he's received so much. To me, it's not worth the time commitment.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by MiamiMarmot:
•Hey Barb (and others):
I was wondering what you think about the military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which basically pays for med school & gives you a stipend, in return for one year of service for each year that you are in the program. (minimum 2 yr commitment for Army/2 yr commitment fro Navy) I have no idea what it's like to be a doc in the Armed Forces. Does the military really ship you all over the world, or do you generally stay in one place? I can't figure out if it's a good deal or not; if i do decide to take the scholarship, i need to decide how many years I should partcipate in the program.
Thanx,
Marmot•••••I think it really depends on how you feel about a career in the military. If you're looking for a lifetime career in the military, USUHS is the best bet because USUHS grads tend to be given the best assignments and are therefore happiest in the jobs. However, if you're not looking for a lifetime commitment, HPSP is a pretty good way to go. I am applying for HPSP, but am hoping to get into my state school so I will not have to accept the scholarship. The downside of HPSP is although you only owe them one year for each year they help you, residency does not count towards payback. In fact, you owe them for residency as well, but residency payback can be done concurrent with the regular payback. For example, if you get a 4 year scholarship and your residency is only 3 years, you them 4 years after your residency. However, if you do neurosurgery (6-7 years), then you owe them 6-7 years payback, post-residency. The upside is that you do get paid handsomely during residency (probably between $50-60 thousand/year). Also, as a military doc, you don't have to pay for malpractice insurance, so once you finish residency and you're working as a doc, you're making pretty decent money, not quite as much as civilian but all benefits considered, pretty close.
•Hey Barb (and others):
I was wondering what you think about the military's Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which basically pays for med school & gives you a stipend, in return for one year of service for each year that you are in the program. (minimum 2 yr commitment for Army/2 yr commitment fro Navy) I have no idea what it's like to be a doc in the Armed Forces. Does the military really ship you all over the world, or do you generally stay in one place? I can't figure out if it's a good deal or not; if i do decide to take the scholarship, i need to decide how many years I should partcipate in the program.
Thanx,
Marmot•••••I think it really depends on how you feel about a career in the military. If you're looking for a lifetime career in the military, USUHS is the best bet because USUHS grads tend to be given the best assignments and are therefore happiest in the jobs. However, if you're not looking for a lifetime commitment, HPSP is a pretty good way to go. I am applying for HPSP, but am hoping to get into my state school so I will not have to accept the scholarship. The downside of HPSP is although you only owe them one year for each year they help you, residency does not count towards payback. In fact, you owe them for residency as well, but residency payback can be done concurrent with the regular payback. For example, if you get a 4 year scholarship and your residency is only 3 years, you them 4 years after your residency. However, if you do neurosurgery (6-7 years), then you owe them 6-7 years payback, post-residency. The upside is that you do get paid handsomely during residency (probably between $50-60 thousand/year). Also, as a military doc, you don't have to pay for malpractice insurance, so once you finish residency and you're working as a doc, you're making pretty decent money, not quite as much as civilian but all benefits considered, pretty close.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by jintonic5:
•I heard that one drawback to the Armed forces medical route is that once you are done with your service requirement, it's difficult to get hired in civilian hospitals. I think the reasoning was that the doctors in uniformed services don't have as much experience in dealing with civilian patients. I mean, the doctor-patient relationship is prolly a lot different if you are someone's doctor but also their superior- when you give a lower ranked officer medicine, they HAVE to take it because it's an ORDER.
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!•••••No offense, but you are not somewhat off - you totally don't have a clue (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). As a person who has been a patient several times in a military hospital while on active duty, I can tell you that ranks don't really have a place in the military doctor-patient relationship, aside from the courtesies, such as calling a superior officer mam or sir.
Never did I feel that I had to follow a doctor's orders because he was my superior. I followed his orders for the same reason I would a civilian doctor - because he was a doctor. Military doctors are the most laid back people I've ever met - they are the most easy going people in the military (the medical aspect of the military is often made fun of by the more hooah units because of their laissez-faire attitude).
As far as civilian patients are concerned, most military doctors see civilian patients just about as often as they see uniformed personnel. Remember, they care for the families of all the people in the military. Who do you think military pediatricians care for - young soldiers in training?
Other than the stereotyped stigma often assigned to military personnel, I cannot imagine a single reason why a physician trained to handle not only peacetime care for soldiers AND their families, but also the severe casualties of war (especially at this time when bioterrorism is so real and this kind of training and preparedness is so important) - I cannot understand why you would think a person trained to handle all this would have trouble getting a job in a civilian setting.
•I heard that one drawback to the Armed forces medical route is that once you are done with your service requirement, it's difficult to get hired in civilian hospitals. I think the reasoning was that the doctors in uniformed services don't have as much experience in dealing with civilian patients. I mean, the doctor-patient relationship is prolly a lot different if you are someone's doctor but also their superior- when you give a lower ranked officer medicine, they HAVE to take it because it's an ORDER.
I'll try to look for the reference I got this from. If someone knows more about this please correct me if i'm somewhat off- i'm hardly an expert on uniformed services medical school!•••••No offense, but you are not somewhat off - you totally don't have a clue (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). As a person who has been a patient several times in a military hospital while on active duty, I can tell you that ranks don't really have a place in the military doctor-patient relationship, aside from the courtesies, such as calling a superior officer mam or sir.
Never did I feel that I had to follow a doctor's orders because he was my superior. I followed his orders for the same reason I would a civilian doctor - because he was a doctor. Military doctors are the most laid back people I've ever met - they are the most easy going people in the military (the medical aspect of the military is often made fun of by the more hooah units because of their laissez-faire attitude).
As far as civilian patients are concerned, most military doctors see civilian patients just about as often as they see uniformed personnel. Remember, they care for the families of all the people in the military. Who do you think military pediatricians care for - young soldiers in training?
Other than the stereotyped stigma often assigned to military personnel, I cannot imagine a single reason why a physician trained to handle not only peacetime care for soldiers AND their families, but also the severe casualties of war (especially at this time when bioterrorism is so real and this kind of training and preparedness is so important) - I cannot understand why you would think a person trained to handle all this would have trouble getting a job in a civilian setting.
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Wahoo07:
•Does anyone know how strict the technical standards are at USUHS? I thought I read somewhere that if you have something like asthma or diabetes, you're disqualified from serving? I can understand why they might do that, it being the military and all, but I just wondered if it was true. •••••I'm pretty sure both asthma and diabetes are disqualifying conditions, but you may want to look it up on their website. All disqualifying conditions are listed in one of the appendices on their website.
•Does anyone know how strict the technical standards are at USUHS? I thought I read somewhere that if you have something like asthma or diabetes, you're disqualified from serving? I can understand why they might do that, it being the military and all, but I just wondered if it was true.
•••••I'm pretty sure both asthma and diabetes are disqualifying conditions, but you may want to look it up on their website. All disqualifying conditions are listed in one of the appendices on their website.- Joined
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•••quote:•••Originally posted by Hero:
•the catch:
•••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•You owe them 7 years active duty AFTER completing residency, and during that time you could be stationed anywhere you are needed. That means you could be up to a year at time in Afghanistan, or other similar places where your family cannot travel with you.•••••However, another pro to this is that you do get to see the world? My friend who's in the Navy loves it because he's received so much. To me, it's not worth the time commitment.•••••As a military doc you only see the parts of teh world that THEY station you in. Civilian doctors make enough money to see the parts of the world that they want to see. Which sounds like the better deal>?
•the catch:
•••quote:•••Originally posted by barb:
•You owe them 7 years active duty AFTER completing residency, and during that time you could be stationed anywhere you are needed. That means you could be up to a year at time in Afghanistan, or other similar places where your family cannot travel with you.•••••However, another pro to this is that you do get to see the world? My friend who's in the Navy loves it because he's received so much. To me, it's not worth the time commitment.•••••As a military doc you only see the parts of teh world that THEY station you in. Civilian doctors make enough money to see the parts of the world that they want to see. Which sounds like the better deal>?
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