HPSP few questions regarding what it covers

[ucla4lifer]

Do they pay state licensing exam?
-If so can you take multiple ones to be covered everywhere, so you can moonlight

What is the salary you make during payback?
-I saw post from 65-75k, which is most likely

Do they pay for national boards exams NBDE 1 & 2?

Do they pay for study materials for boards such as dental decks?

Will they pay for things like notebooks, notecards, school supplies?
-I know its not a big deal if they don't but was just wondering

I have already been granted acceptance for the Air Force scholarship but my recruiter was unspecific about what is actually covered other than tuition and lab fees. Thanks for any info you can give.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[eric275]

Do they pay state licensing exam?
-If so can you take multiple ones to be covered everywhere, so you can moonlight

Pretty sure this is No from a conversation I had with an active duty dentist.

What is the salary you make during payback?
-I saw post from 65-75k, which is most likely

You can use this link to determine your pay based off of your duty station, MINUS your dental bonuses

Choose 0-3 for your rank
Choose 1 for years of service
CHOOSE CONUS AVERAGE for location (This vary significantly depending on your duty station. You can play around with different locations and see how it changes your BAH allowance)

The above choices will show ~65k but as I said it is not including your dental bonuses.

http://www.dod.mil/cgi-bin/rmc.pl

Do they pay for national boards exams NBDE 1 & 2?

Yes

Do they pay for study materials for boards such as dental decks?

No.

Will they pay for things like notebooks, notecards, school supplies?
-I know its not a big deal if they don't but was just wondering

No. Books only.

I have already been granted acceptance for the Air Force scholarship but my recruiter was unspecific about what is actually covered other than tuition and lab fees. Thanks for any info you can give.

 

[ucla4lifer]

Hey eric275,
Thanks a lot for responding.

My recruiter said that they would cover loupes and a computer if it is required by the school? Is that true b/c other people have said they don't

Also what do you mean by dental bonuses?

 

[BQuad]

They will cover loupes one time, laptops seem to be a grey area. If the laptops are required AND issued to you by the school then the HPSP should cover it, but if they just tell you to buy a laptop, then you might run into trouble. It seems to vary by school and service.

Pay should be around $70 but it does depend a lot on your housing allowance which can vary from $800 to over $2000 depending on your station. Also about half your pay is non taxable so you pay less taxes than civilians.


You recieve 2 dental bonuses: Dental Annual Special Pay: $4000/year (for the first 3 years) lump sum bonus requires signing a 1 year contract (but this is not in addition to your payback time, it's served concurrently). You also will recive the Variable Special Pay which is $250 a month I believe. Both of these go up after 3 years of active duty and there is talk of raising the bonuses.

 

[jmick101]

The Army paid for my loupes but said my LED light was unreimbursable.

 

[ucla4lifer]

Does anyone that took the scholarship or know someone who took the hpsp and attended UCLA know if the lap top was paid for?

At the interview you have to sign a form saying you agree to get a laptop and loupes which are required by the school, but they dont issue them.

 

[hattrack04]

Does anyone that took the scholarship or know someone who took the hpsp and attended UCLA know if the lap top was paid for?

At the interview you have to sign a form saying you agree to get a laptop and loupes which are required by the school, but they dont issue them.

Try to get it in writing before you swear in.....that's what I'm going to do.....dunno if it will work....he did tell me that they would cover it though

 

[ucla4lifer]

Yeah my recruiter said they would too. I'll try to do that. Do you know if you can call the actual branch that pays the fees and ask them directly?

You have anymore tips before I eventually sign?

 

[hattrack04]

Yeah my recruiter said they would too. I'll try to do that. Do you know if you can call the actual branch that pays the fees and ask them directly?

You have anymore tips before I eventually sign?

Not really bud, I think you're in the same position I am, and I'm sure you have just as much knowledge about it.........I mean I've signed, but I haven't sworn in......huge difference......if you sign, you can still get out of it, if you swear in, your in.........but anyways, I would just think about everything one more time, and make sure that you're doing it for the experience of serving in the AF first, and the money second......I've found that when I think about the money aspect, I don't want to do it (because I know it shouldn't be done solely for the money)......but when I think about it as an opportunity to serve my country, get excellent clinical training w/o worrying about a business and work with a team, I do want to do it....and that's why I'm going to do it.......and I hope you will too, but for the right reasons

 

[ucla4lifer]

Yeah the money is obviosly the biggest reason but thats not the whole reason. There are many other things that appeal to me. Its cool youll be at ucla next year. Good luck with the rest of your year.