in the army

[swoop]

What do you guys think about joining the military to pay for medical school? Any of you guys doing it? Do you know anything about the benefits and or drawbacks of it?

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[edmadison]

Search on HPSP, there have been countless threads on this in the past. If you have any specific questions after that, just ask

Ed

 

[BenHoganFan]

Bottom line is this...Are you willing to die for your country if called to act? Are you willing to live away for your family for 6-9 months on a deployment? Are you willing to take 1 year unaccompanied orders to Okinawa, Korea or Japan? Are you willing to take a scholarship with the knowledge that you may have to be a GMO tour before doing residency? Are you will to make less money that your civlian counterparts after residency to offset heavy debt in medical school? Are you willing to join without whining about X, Y, Z etc etc?

If the answer is yes to all of the above then consider it.

Do you have family members who have special needs requiring your presence for one reason or another on a continuous basis? Do you have a spouse who may have hesitations about being left alone for extended periods of time?

If yes, please don't bother...

 

[8744]

Originally posted by BenHoganFan
Bottom line is this...Are you willing to die for your country if called to act? Are you willing to live away for your family for 6-9 months on a deployment? Are you willing to take 1 year unaccompanied orders to Okinawa, Korea or Japan? Are you willing to take a scholarship with the knowledge that you may have to be a GMO tour before doing residency? Are you will to make less money that your civlian counterparts after residency to offset heavy debt in medical school? Are you willing to join without whining about X, Y, Z etc etc?

If the answer is yes to all of the above then consider it.

Do you have family members who have special needs requiring your presence for one reason or another on a continuous basis? Do you have a spouse who may have hesitations about being left alone for extended periods of time?

If yes, please don't bother...

Somewhat cynically presented, but right on the money for accuracy.

On the upside, you might end up in Sigonella, Italy or Hawaii. Plus there is something to be said for not incurring a huge debt load during school.

I looked into the Navy HPSP but decided against it for all the reasons ennumerated by Benhoganfan. Plus, if you go to an inexpensive state medical school like mine (tuition about $12,000 per year) a small amount of student debt will not offset the lower pay of military doctors who have no debt.

On the other hand, there are good, solidly patriotic reasons to give the military some of your time. Just know what you are getting into. The medical officer recruiter will try to sell you the program and might not tell you the whole story.