Neuronix said:
Not discounting, only explaining. When you spend a year away from your children and don't get the residency and/or fellowship you want, you'll be unhappy too. If none of these happen to you, you might just be happy. Unfortunately, it's all out of your hands.
Conspiracy theorist? My only theory is that recruiters lie to potential HPSP applicants to get them to sign up, and then once you sign there's no way out. Is it reality? Yep. Am I trying to provide the truth? Yep. I accept all the information given to me, on this forum, from my girlfriend, or from nasty e-mails read from her superiors for asking innocent questions and believe me that the vast majority is just rehashed from other parts of this forum. Go read some of the negative posts that aren't by me. Sound familiar?
Why do you feel the need to defend the military and attack me so much? Feeling insecure about your own decision? Just curious. I will be satisified when the military includes a clause that lets people out of the contract, with payback or not. Why else would they threaten anyone who even asks about leaving with a court marshall?
I think you're forgetting a couple of things. I'm not sure where you are in your training... you may have said so in a previous posting, but there are a lot of them to read through. Anyway, my guess would be that you are early in the process, maybe applying to med school, maybe you've been accepted, maybe you're in your first or second year. It seems as though you've already made up your mind about the HPSP, based on your postings. But maybe you're still thinking about it (otherwise, why spend so much time on this thread?).
Anyway, trust me when I say that there is no guarantee that you will get the residency/fellowship of your choice, regardless of whether you are civilian or military. There are many civilian med students who do not match into their chosen field, as there are military students. It really depends on how competitive you are. Medical school is competitive, residency is competitive, and fellowship is too, regardless of whether you're active duty or not. You are very likely to get the residency field and location of your choice in the military if you're an outstanding candidate. You're right... I did get the GME training I wanted, because I did very well in school and had a strong application. If you are proactive, and are strong clinically and in research, you're likely to get an academic position at Walter Reed, Bethesda, San Diego, Wilford Hall, or the other academic centers. If not, you may wind up a general medical officer in Small Town, USA. But I know crappy civilian med students that got crappy residencies, and now are wasting away at some small clinic in some small town as well.
And to answer you question about whether I'm staying in after my commitment is up, I haven't decided yet. I'll probably get out. Not because I hate or even dislike the military, but because there are reasons to eventually leave. If I get out, I can move closer to family. And I will make more money. It may be a bad financial decision to stay in. But I will say that I know many people who do chose to stay in. Not necessarily for 20 years, but often for 6, 8, even 10 years.
You seem to think that the the HPSP program claims to provide you with something for free, and therefore the decision is a no-brainer. This is simply not the case. I got my education paid for, and in exchange, I provided a service of value. Here's an analogy... I enjoyed undergrad, but I was happy to finish. I gave my college something (money) and got something in return (a degree). I don't regret spending 4 years in college, but I was ready to move on. The same is true regarding my time in the military.
. Still, if you look up some of the older posts, you'll probably be able to find some positives.
