I am 28, have a master's of physical therapy degree, and am applying to med school for fall 07. I have talk to army recruiters about ther scholarship program, and it sounds like the residency I want to go into will require 5 years of payback to the army. However, I researched the airforce and they said that if I take out a 3 year scholarship, I will only owe them 3 years back no matter what. I want to know if this is true, and also how people feel about the different branches. How they treat you, if it is conduce having a spouse, etc. Thanks for any feedback 🙂
Having had 11 years in the Army (enlisted), and one brother who put about 6 years in the Air Force (enlisted).. as well as another who was an officer in the Navy, I can tell you that the Air Force probably treats their folks better, in general, than the Army at least. However, I do know that the Army HPSP guarantees you no interruption in your residency. I have been told now by a few people that the Navy is not quite so kind, and an Army recruiter tells me the same is true of the Air Force. In other words, you could end up being a general practitioner (flight surgeon status, etc) for several years, in the Navy, before you actually get to go do your residency, depending on their needs. I would definitely at least check that much out in regards to the Air Force, before you do it.
Not sure exactly what you mean by conducive to having a spouse. There are times you will be gone for at least a few months at a time, especially in a time of war (like now), but I know the Army tries to rotate their docs back and forth on 3-4 month rotations right now. From the standpoint of money, house, spouse, etc., there's probalby not that big a difference between being married in the military and being single.
I'm partial to the Army, because that's where I've spent many years, but like I said, the Air Force does treat their people well. I was doing the type of stuff where we would be seriously lucky to have a bed with springs I could throw my sleeping bag on some nights (in buildings that probably should have been condemned) for the 4-5 hours of sleep I might be lucky enough to get, let alone a bed with a mattress, and maybe one crappy hot meal every few days in a small cafeteria somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, my brother (Air Force) was staying in barracks that looked like co-ed dorms at a private college, and he would bitch because they actually "had to get up at 6 am for PT one day a week" (LOL... OMG the horror of it all). But part of that was the whole Special Forces thing vs. his job as a computer programmer too, so it might not be a completely fair comparison.
