Laurie,
I've heard that that Health Service Corps Scholarship is a good program. The only problem is that the IRS taxes the monthly stipend _and_ the scholarship. Taxing the stipend makes sense but taxing the scholarship means that you may still need to take out loans to cover part of your tuition. Both the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) (and probably other organizations as well) are working hard with the U.S. legislature to get the tax taken off the scholarship portion. As far as I know, they have not been successful yet. Call AACOM at (301) 968-4100 and ask for Tamara Thompson. She is in the Government Relations department and will be able to tell you if the scholarship is still being taxed. The military Health Professions Scholarship Program is essentially the same as the Public Health Service's program but the scholarship is not taxed. So if you have no objection to serving in the military rather than the Public Health Service, I would suggest the military HPSP. Good luck.
