HPSP pay grade?

[vinnieb0i]

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Just curious how does the pay grade work for HPSP??

After grad from med school. 0-3 will that be 0-3 with less then two years or will it be 0-3 with 4 years (as O-1 in med school)?

Just wonder cause pay is like $1100 a month difference.

 

[chaser08]

Assuming you have no prior service, you will be an O-3 with less than 2 years when you start residency.

 

[elderjack21]

I spoke with the Army HPSP recruiter (always brings me back to my high school years when they would offer me the world).

Anyway. He told me that since I am (at least I will be in a couple months) a CPT in the IRR (individual ready reserve), if I enroll in the HPSP program, I will retain that rank for pay purposes during the summer training and I will continue to earn some time towards promotion while in the IRR.

Thoughts on this? Does this apply to Air Force as well?

 

[chaser08]

I spoke with the Army HPSP recruiter (always brings me back to my high school years when they would offer me the world).

Anyway. He told me that since I am (at least I will be in a couple months) a CPT in the IRR (individual ready reserve), if I enroll in the HPSP program, I will retain that rank for pay purposes during the summer training and I will continue to earn some time towards promotion while in the IRR.

Thoughts on this? Does this apply to Air Force as well?

If you are in (Army) HPSP, you will retain the rank of O-3, but you will be paid as an O-1 with however many years of service you had before entering into HPSP while doing active duty training. Before being accepted into HPSP, if you are currently in the IRR and you do some summer training, you will probably be able to get paid at your O-3 rank. But if this is HPSP training (e.g. OBC), I imagine you will be getting O-1 pay.

So if you are currently an O-3 with 7 years of service, you will be paid as an O-1 with 7 years of service for any active duty training. Otherwise, you will be paid the stipend that all HPSPers receive with no consideration for prior service. All of your LESs will say O-1 with 7 years of service. The only documents that I have that retains my O-3 status is my ID card and documents that I had prior to HPSP (e.g. DD 2-14, ORB, etc).

Also, while in HPSP, you will earn no points towards promotion or retirement. Time stops while you are in school and re-starts when you come back on active duty.

I remember talking with my recruiter before leaving active duty and applying for HPSP, but 1) I have an inherent distrust of recruiters and am obsessive about researching things before I make any decisions (gather all the intel ) 2) as you may have learned by reading this forum, you will be better served by just read the Reg yourself because at the end of the day, you're the one who gets screwed. Since you are prior service, you will probably have an easier time understanding the Reg jargon and that is why I'm suggesting it to you. This is what I did before applying and I have had very few surprises regarding the HPSP program.

AR 601-141 U.S. Army Health Professions Scholarship, Financial Assistance, and Active Duty Health Professions Loan Repayment Programs

Always out Front! ...Ah, good times. I do miss that job, and the briefing skills definitely come in handy when presenting patients and giving talks.

 

[elderjack21]

Thanks for the response. I will look into the regulation. Did you apply for the Air Force HPSP and Army HPSP?

Always out front! Hahaha, only for a couple more months. How long ago were you in? Is the HPSP worth it?

 

[chaser08]

Thanks for the response. I will look into the regulation. Did you apply for the Air Force HPSP and Army HPSP?

Always out front! Hahaha, only for a couple more months. How long ago were you in? Is the HPSP worth it?

Click on the Reg in my above post and it will give you the PDF. I actually stole a paper copy before I left AD and referred to it multiple times during the summer before med school.

I did Army HPSP and never considered doing otherwise mainly because you have more options in the Army in terms of specialty and location, bigger hospitals at which to train, and it's a system I'm familiar with. Look at this forum and you will see a disproportionate number of complaints with the Air Force and Navy HPSP versus the Army. From personal experience at my school, the other branches definitely got bent over more than the Army. In fact, last year at my school all Army HPSPers got their first choices (both residency and location) and all AF got GMO. Not a huge sample size, but that's what I saw.

I went from AD straight to Med School in 2004 but I did some time in the Reserves, too. I was a 96B enlisted then a 35D officer.

I think HPSP can be worth it, esp if you're prior service because of the pay in residency. I think it is more worth it if you pick one of the shorter, less competitive residencies because you can get out shortly after paying back your residency and make real money. However, if you're looking at being a surgeon/surgical subspecialist, anesthesiologist, etc, you will be making a lot less than your counterparts on the outside.

Your prior service also pays big dividends when applying to residency. Especially if you've got a couple of hooah badges (NOT the one shown above ) +/- deployment patch. You can practically write your ticket into any residency (provided you are a decent student and not a complete douc*e...and even the second one is debatable). I didn't believe it until I saw it firsthand and was practically accepted everywhere I rotated sight unseen.

Good luck in med school. If you decide to do HPSP, enjoy your freedom while in med school and use the fact that you know the system to your advantage. I got to do some awesome training during the summers because I knew people and didn't have to do OBC.

PM me if you have any further questions.