I'm in a bit of a peculiar and unique position with regards to thinking about joining Navy HPSP. I am aware of the hoards of negative experiences and the financial cost that comes with it. I don't need a reminder on these fronts. Here is the situation:
My wife is already in the HPSP program and about to enter her first year of residency (pediatrics). She will owe four years at the end of her three year residency assuming she elects not to try a flight surgeon position (which she is considering). If she goes straight through, she's facing the very likely possibility of getting shipped somewhere like Japan or Guam as a pediatrician based on common need. I however am beginning second year of med school and am considering surgical specialties (like Urology) with 5-6 years of residency. If I go civilian, i'm staring down the barrel of us being apart for:
- the next two years of school
- possibly the last year of her residency (depending on where i would get into residency)
- her four service years
If I do HPSP, we could try to leverage the wacky order of transition year/intern year reapplications, possible flight surgeon/tour locations, transition year, and the limited number of sites for Navy residencies to be in the same location for most if not all of the time after I finish school and her service obligation. Additionally, the thinking would be that us being married and both in the Navy would incentivize them to station us together. While I would definitely take a financial hit from this approach, the monetary difference doesn't matter as much to me as possibility of us being together during this time period. However, I would potentially be looking at a 5 year service requirement which is a long time to be stuck in the military (not saying I wouldn't do it to keep the family together but it's a big ask). The possibility of 7 years apart (5 of those being timeframes where we would likely not be able to see each other at all given grueling scheduling and military restrictions) are daunting to consider and me joining HPSP seems like a potential way to minimize that time frame.
What are people's perspectives on this approach? Am I expecting too much out of the Navy's efforts to keep a married couple together in which both are in the military? Am I foolish to think that the changing locations throughout the residency and service time can be leveraged to try and move us together in the event of a misaligned assignment? Does having children change the equation?
My wife is already in the HPSP program and about to enter her first year of residency (pediatrics). She will owe four years at the end of her three year residency assuming she elects not to try a flight surgeon position (which she is considering). If she goes straight through, she's facing the very likely possibility of getting shipped somewhere like Japan or Guam as a pediatrician based on common need. I however am beginning second year of med school and am considering surgical specialties (like Urology) with 5-6 years of residency. If I go civilian, i'm staring down the barrel of us being apart for:
- the next two years of school
- possibly the last year of her residency (depending on where i would get into residency)
- her four service years
If I do HPSP, we could try to leverage the wacky order of transition year/intern year reapplications, possible flight surgeon/tour locations, transition year, and the limited number of sites for Navy residencies to be in the same location for most if not all of the time after I finish school and her service obligation. Additionally, the thinking would be that us being married and both in the Navy would incentivize them to station us together. While I would definitely take a financial hit from this approach, the monetary difference doesn't matter as much to me as possibility of us being together during this time period. However, I would potentially be looking at a 5 year service requirement which is a long time to be stuck in the military (not saying I wouldn't do it to keep the family together but it's a big ask). The possibility of 7 years apart (5 of those being timeframes where we would likely not be able to see each other at all given grueling scheduling and military restrictions) are daunting to consider and me joining HPSP seems like a potential way to minimize that time frame.
What are people's perspectives on this approach? Am I expecting too much out of the Navy's efforts to keep a married couple together in which both are in the military? Am I foolish to think that the changing locations throughout the residency and service time can be leveraged to try and move us together in the event of a misaligned assignment? Does having children change the equation?
