HPSP Inquiry

[YayPudding]

Hi all,

I am starting medical school this summer and am currently talking with Army and Navy recruiters regarding HPSP. I have a few remaining questions (that I would like straight answers for)

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I know Army has more resources and the Navy has been kind of a pain in the ass with certain things.
• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist?
• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer?
• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school?
• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school?
• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency.

Thanks everyone.

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[SirGecko]

A lot of those questions are probably going to be better answerable by your recruiter. (dates and whatnot) You should probably decide if you want to be in the Army or the Navy rather than picking the one that is easiest to get a scholarship from. Make sure you are making an informed decision on that. This forum is a good place to get some information for that, so be sure to read the stickied threads. As for your specific questions:

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I don't know a strict answer to this, sort of depends on the year. Army is the biggest and usually has more scholarships available. Realistically though see my above comment about knowing which service you want to go into.

• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist? I do not know. This would be a good question for your recruiter.

• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer? Again a good question for your recruiter. Make sure if you have to lose weight to join that this is a sustainable lifestyle modification as it can be really annoying for you in your career if you keep yo-yoing around the BCA requirements. (and keep it up in Med school)

• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school? I think a lot of people do this the first summer of medical school. I think it varies though. (I didn't have to do ODS because I did NROTC)

• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school? That would probably be appropriate.

• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency. This is a question that has been answered a lot on the forum but people do find it confusing and there is some misinformation that recruiters sometimes spread. If you have a four year scholarship it is a four year commitment. Time in training does not count toward paying off this commitment. So say you graduate medical school and do an internal medicine internship followed by going strait through to residency. You would then have four years post residency to pay off before your are done with your commitment. Where it gets more complicated is if you have a longer residency or you have to do a GMO tour in between intern year and residency. Time as a GMO counts toward payback but when you go back to residency you also accrue additional obligated service. This obligated service is served concurrently with obligated service from medical school. (or other education programs) So say you do one year of internal medicine internship then go out for a two year GMO tour before returning to finish your residency. In this scenario you paid off two years as a GMO and then you come back to residency and accrue two more years of payback. You now have two years owed from residency and two from medical school. You pay both of these off at the same time so you have two more years total of obligated service. If your residency was longer, say a four year residency like radiology, you would have two years left on your medical school payback and four years from your residency payback. So it that scenario you would owe four additional years post residency. Hope that helps.

 

[YayPudding]

A lot of those questions are probably going to be better answerable by your recruiter. (dates and whatnot) You should probably decide if you want to be in the Army or the Navy rather than picking the one that is easiest to get a scholarship from. Make sure you are making an informed decision on that. This forum is a good place to get some information for that, so be sure to read the stickied threads. As for your specific questions:

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I don't know a strict answer to this, sort of depends on the year. Army is the biggest and usually has more scholarships available. Realistically though see my above comment about knowing which service you want to go into.

• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist? I do not know. This would be a good question for your recruiter.

• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer? Again a good question for your recruiter. Make sure if you have to lose weight to join that this is a sustainable lifestyle modification as it can be really annoying for you in your career if you keep yo-yoing around the BCA requirements. (and keep it up in Med school)

• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school? I think a lot of people do this the first summer of medical school. I think it varies though. (I didn't have to do ODS because I did NROTC)

• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school? That would probably be appropriate.

• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency. This is a question that has been answered a lot on the forum but people do find it confusing and there is some misinformation that recruiters sometimes spread. If you have a four year scholarship it is a four year commitment. Time in training does not count toward paying off this commitment. So say you graduate medical school and do an internal medicine internship followed by going strait through to residency. You would then have four years post residency to pay off before your are done with your commitment. Where it gets more complicated is if you have a longer residency or you have to do a GMO tour in between intern year and residency. Time as a GMO counts toward payback but when you go back to residency you also accrue additional obligated service. This obligated service is served concurrently with obligated service from medical school. (or other education programs) So say you do one year of internal medicine internship then go out for a two year GMO tour before returning to finish your residency. In this scenario you paid off two years as a GMO and then you come back to residency and accrue two more years of payback. You now have two years owed from residency and two from medical school. You pay both of these off at the same time so you have two more years total of obligated service. If your residency was longer, say a four year residency like radiology, you would have two years left on your medical school payback and four years from your residency payback. So it that scenario you would owe four additional years post residency. Hope that helps.

Thank you very, very much for your responses

 

[Ms. Medic]

Hello there,

By this time you may already have the answers that you need, but I'm replying also FYI for other readers. I've spoken to Army AMEDD recruiters in San Antonio and Houston and here are some of the things that I've been told:

*Please anyone correct my information if something seems wrong

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I know Army has more resources and the Navy has been kind of a pain in the ass with certain things: Can't speak for Navy, but supposedly the Army HPSP scholarships usually have left-over scholarships at the end of the application cycle.
  
• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist? For Army, it's a $20k sign on bonus, paid over the first 3 years of med school. I actually forgot to ask about this earlier and my family just reminded me now. My recruiter says it's paid over the first 3 years of med school. $9k, $9k, then $2k.
  
• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer? Again, not sure, but supposedly MEPS processing must be done within 30 days of receiving the go ahead to do processing (which occurs after submitting initial prescreening paperwork through your recruiter) otherwise you have to re-submit the documents. Hope that helps.
  
• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school? BOLC is whenever you can fit it in. The BOLC dates that I was told for the Army are: end of Feb./March, May-ish, Aug., End of Oct.ish
  
• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school? We used my med school Interfolio LORs
  
• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency. If you receive a 4 yr scholarship and will not pursue fellowship during your service commitment....4 year med school = something non-deployable (can't remember the precise term) but you complete your BOLC during this time period and have 45 days a year of ADT training (considered voluntary and selectable), then 3 year Residency = Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), then 4 years Active Duty as a military physician, then one additional year of Active Duty OR Reserve OR IRR (I'm going reserve or IRR for this last year).

 

[ArmyMedicalRecruiter]

Hello there,

By this time you may already have the answers that you need, but I'm replying also FYI for other readers. I've spoken to Army AMEDD recruiters in San Antonio and Houston and here are some of the things that I've been told:

*Please anyone correct my information if something seems wrong

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I know Army has more resources and the Navy has been kind of a pain in the ass with certain things: Can't speak for Navy, but supposedly the Army HPSP scholarships usually have left-over scholarships at the end of the application cycle.
  
• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist? For Army, it's a $20k sign on bonus, paid over the first 3 years of med school. I actually forgot to ask about this earlier and my family just reminded me now. My recruiter says it's paid over the first 3 years of med school. $9k, $9k, then $2k.
  
• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer? Again, not sure, but supposedly MEPS processing must be done within 30 days of receiving the go ahead to do processing (which occurs after submitting initial prescreening paperwork through your recruiter) otherwise you have to re-submit the documents. Hope that helps.
  
• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school? BOLC is whenever you can fit it in. The BOLC dates that I was told for the Army are: end of Feb./March, May-ish, Aug., End of Oct.ish
  
• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school? We used my med school Interfolio LORs
  
• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency. If you receive a 4 yr scholarship and will not pursue fellowship during your service commitment....4 year med school = something non-deployable (can't remember the precise term) but you complete your BOLC during this time period and have 45 days a year of ADT training (considered voluntary and selectable), then 3 year Residency = Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), then 4 years Active Duty as a military physician, then one additional year of Active Duty OR Reserve OR IRR (I'm going reserve or IRR for this last year).

The bonus is typically paid over the first three months of medical school ($9k first month, $9k second month, and $2k third month).

MEPS must be completed before your packet is sent to the board. The packets are typically required to be submitted roughly 1 month prior to the board date. So, if your board date is 17 July, then your packet will need to be submitted by around 17 June. It takes roughly a week to get your finalized MEPS medical records once you attend MEPS. The last possible date for you to go to MEPS given this scenario is 10 June. My advice is to get the packet done as quickly as possible, because you will still need to complete the enrollment documents after you receive the official board results. The enrollment docs contain all of the documents that ensure you and the medical school get paid.

Most HPSP students attend BOLC during the summer between their first and second year of medical school.

LORs can come from just about anyone. However, I recommend using current physicians in the military, prior physicians in the military, professors, and any other professionals.

Your commitment for 4 yr HPSP is a minimum of 4 years. If your residency happens to be longer than 4 years, then you owe the length of that residency. Let's say that you choose a residency that's 5 years, then you will owe 5 years to the Army as a physician after you complete your residency.

 

[dwb8p]

Your commitment for 4 yr HPSP is a minimum of 4 years. If your residency happens to be longer than 4 years, then you owe the length of that residency. Let's say that you choose a residency that's 5 years, then you will owe 5 years to the Army as a physician after you complete your residency.

Inaccurate. PGY1 year doesn't count; so for a specialties that have only 5 PGY years (radiology, ENT, some of the ortho programs) there is still only 4 years ADSO after residency.

 

[Healthcare Recruiter37]

Hi all,

I am starting medical school this summer and am currently talking with Army and Navy recruiters regarding HPSP. I have a few remaining questions (that I would like straight answers for)

• Army or Navy easier to obtain? I know Army has more resources and the Navy has been kind of a pain in the ass with certain things.
• Does the 20k sign on bonus still exist?
• I'm still a fatbody from MCAT study time, but I should make weight/tape within a few months. When is the last possible date for MEPS for a student starting this summer?
• Is BOLC/ODS in the first year of med school?
• Who would be best for the LORs? Same folks who wrote me ones for med school?
• Can someone please explain the commitment? I haven't had a straight answer. I will be in medical school for 4 years and let's say I go for an internal medicine residency.

Thanks everyone.

Inbox me for answers. I answered some questions like this before on an open forum and someone reported me as spam and I was blocked. So I'm more careful now. Inbox me.

 

[backrow]

Inbox me for answers. I answered some questions like this before on an open forum and someone reported me as spam and I was blocked. So I'm more careful now. Inbox me.

"Inbox me" so nobody else knows if I'm giving accurate information or not.....

I'm one who normally stays out of the whole recruiter stuff, but the point of a forum is so others with similar questions can see the responses.



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Homunculus]

"Inbox me" so nobody else knows if I'm giving accurate information or not.....

I'm one who normally stays out of the whole recruiter stuff, but the point of a forum is so others with similar questions can see the responses.

agree. facts are facts. please share with the group so everyone benefits (and to help the person asking have some reassurance the answers pass muster).

Inbox me for answers. I answered some questions like this before on an open forum and someone reported me as spam and I was blocked. So I'm more careful now. Inbox me.

where? here? spam reports are typically vetted carefully and as long as they are relevant to the conversation they usually remain. what I've seen in the past with recruiters is blasting multiple forums with the same recruiting message, which under cross posting and spam rules is against the ToS. if you could refer me to the posts in question I can review it. in the meantime, you have my personal guarantee your answers in this thread will not be categorized as spam.

--your friendly neighborhood breaking down barriers for information caveman

 

[pgg]

Inbox me for answers. I answered some questions like this before on an open forum and someone reported me as spam and I was blocked. So I'm more careful now. Inbox me.

Please post in the forum.

I'm not a moderator for the milmed sub-forum (my place is the anesthesia sub-forum), but I do see all the reported posts on SDN. I can't remember a recruiter getting dinged or banned for answering questions or offering help here.

As much as recruiters get criticized here, they are welcome and valued for the answers they have, especially regarding the process.

It's better for the forum and everyone who reads it if topics are discussed publicly, not via PM.

 

[Gastrapathy]

@pgg I remember him. He spammed and necro'd a bunch of threads all at once with complete nonsense. His posts were removed with a few hours. It made it look like I was yelling at clouds. It had nothing with him being a recruiter (honestly, I'm surprised he really was one, it was that inane).

For the applicants, if you choose to have a private unsupervised conversation with a recruiter good on you. After all, apparently I'm one bad recruiting year from being drafted.

 

[faheyra9]

Army HPSP applicant here, my packet is going to the April 4th boards. I have an acceptance to a DO school already. Does anyone have any knowledge of spots left this application cycle for the 4yr scholarships? How long has it been taking this year to hear back with a yes/no/waitlist?

 

[Gastrapathy]

I don't know

 

[Ms. Medic]

Army HPSP applicant here, my packet is going to the April 4th boards. I have an acceptance to a DO school already. Does anyone have any knowledge of spots left this application cycle for the 4yr scholarships? How long has it been taking this year to hear back with a yes/no/waitlist?

My recruiter is submitting my packet to the May board. He told me that there are still 4-yr scholarships available.

 

[YayPudding]

My recruiter is submitting my packet to the May board. He told me that there are still 4-yr scholarships available.

Same. Physical soon and recruiter hopes to make June board at the latest. I can't see them turning away strong applicants.