Is HPSP worth it?

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zobay

zobay

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Recruits tell you yes, obviously, and I've had some doctors tell me no. Thoughts?


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Like the residency repay. If you end up specializing and it adds years.


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zobay said:
Recruits tell you yes, obviously, and I've had some doctors tell me no. Thoughts?


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Click to expand...
Is it worth it...

1) Financially? Depends on your loans and your profession. Here is a simple equation: take your loans and multiply by 3. Now divide that number by 4. Now add 150K. That's what you need to earn pretax, per year, during the first 4 years out of residency to break even with the financial value of an HPSP scholarship (assuming no PSLF or PAYE loan forgiveness, a 7% interest rate on your loans, and a 10 year repayment plan).

So for me: 320K in loans -> I would need to earn 390K/year just to break even. Is that possible for a general Pediatrican in the first 4 years out of residency? No. So the scholarship is a financial win.

2) In terms of professional development? Depends on your profession, but usually the military is usually a negative for your professional development. Most types of residencies are harder to get in the military match than the civilian match, with rare exceptions (Derm, psych). Procedural specialties like surgery usually suffer from skill atrophy in the military as there just aren't enough complicated cases to fill the hours. Fellowships are rare and getting rarer, you will likely need to put that step off until after your military career ends. You also might find yourself serving out your obligation in a GMO role and having to do residency 4 years late.

3) In terms of enjoying your job? Probably not, but it depends on what you like and which profession you choose. There are a few definite advantages to military medicine: good patient population, lab/radiology integrated with your clinic, relatively light patient load with lots of holidays, supportive subspecialists available for telemedicine support, and an insurance that denies very few procedures or medications (you will notice that these positives apply a lot to clinicians and barely at all to surgeons). There are also definite disadvantages: you are out of control of your patient care environment and have no ability to walk away from an unsafe situation, your boss will likely not be a physician, you will have an insane administrative burden (5-10 hours/week), your will work daily in a hospital whose computer system and physical plant both suffer frequent catastrophic failures, no support for buying CME or reference materials, and of course there is the constant looming threat of deployment. Finally there are a few parts of military medicine that some people consider positives and others consider negatives: being moved every 3 years, being moved to OCONUS duty stations,(Japan/ Guam/ Italy/ Greece), the culture of fitness that requires frequent workouts and shames fatties out of their jobs, and of course the military 'culture' of saluting/uniforms/overly formal forms of address/silly hats.

4) In terms of family life? Depends who you marry. To the extent that anything is predictive how much you will like the military culture, it is whether your spouse has a non military career. The military has never yet found a way to accommodate service members who are married to someone who isn't either a housewife or in the military themselves. You will likely either end up separated from your loved ones for years a time, or having to take one of the world's least desirable duty stations to stay near to them. If you are married to a homemaker who is able to seek out a new social group every 3 years, or if you are married to another military physician, this career can be pretty sustainable. If you are married to a civilian lawyer or civilian medical subspecialist you are going to be counting down the days until you get out.
 
Last edited:
Perrotfish said:
Is it worth it...

1) Financially? Depends on your loans and your profession. Here is a simple equation: take your loans and multiply by 3. Now divide that number by 4. Now add 150K. That's what you need to earn pretax, per year, during the first 4 years out of residency to break even with the financial value of an HPSP scholarship (assuming no PSLF or PAYE loan forgiveness, a 7% interest rate on your loans, and a 10 year repayment plan).

So for me: 320K in loans -> I would need to earn 390K/year just to break even. Is that possible for a general Pediatrican in the first 4 years out of residency? No. So the scholarship is a financial win.

2) In terms of professional development? Depends on your profession, but usually the military is usually a negative for your professional development. Most types of residencies are harder to get in the military match than the civilian match, with rare exceptions (Derm, psych). Procedural specialties like surgery usually suffer from skill atrophy in the military as there just aren't enough complicated cases to fill the hours. Fellowships are rare and getting rarer, you will likely need to put that step off until after your military career ends. You also might find yourself serving out your obligation in a GMO role and having to do residency 4 years late.

3) In terms of enjoying your job? Probably not, but it depends on what you like and which profession you choose. There are a few definite advantages to military medicine: good patient population, lab/radiology integrated with your clinic, relatively light patient load with lots of holidays, supportive subspecialists available for telemedicine support, and an insurance that denies very few procedures or medications (you will notice that these positives apply a lot to clinicians and barely at all to surgeons). There are also definite disadvantages: you are out of control of your patient care environment and have no ability to walk away from an unsafe situation, your boss will likely not be a physician, you will have an insane administrative burden (5-10 hours/week), your will work daily in a hospital whose computer system and physical plant both suffer frequent catastrophic failures, no support for buying CME or reference materials, and of course there is the constant looming threat of deployment. Finally there are a few parts of military medicine that some people consider positives and others consider negatives: being moved every 3 years, being moved to OCONUS duty stations,(Japan/ Guam/ Italy/ Greece), the culture of fitness that requires frequent workouts and shames fatties out of their jobs, and of course the military 'culture' of saluting/uniforms/overly formal forms of address/silly hats.

4) In terms of family life? Depends who you marry. To the extent that anything is predictive how much you will like the military culture, it is whether your spouse has a non military career. The military has never yet found a way to accommodate service members who are married to someone who isn't either a housewife or in the military themselves. You will likely either end up separated from your loved ones for years a time, or having to take one of the world's least desirable duty stations to stay near to them. If you are married to a homemaker who is able to seek out a new social group every 3 years, or if you are married to another military physician, this career can be pretty sustainable. If you are married to a civilian lawyer or civilian medical subspecialist you are going to be counting down the days until you get out.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your input so much! You definitely gave me things to think about.


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Helpful Troll said:
Zobay - Has anyone told you, you can't use HPSP at a foreign medical school? US/DC/PR only.
Click to expand...

The recruiter I spoke to as well as a current student said as long as it was accredited in the US, I can.


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zobay said:
The recruiter I spoke to as well as a current student said as long as it was accredited in the US, I can.


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Click to expand...
A google search or search on SDN will provide the correct answer. Prepare for disappointment. The recruiter and current student are wrong, though it could be you are misunderstanding their response. Please familiarize yourself with the scholarship coverage. You cannot use the HPSP at a Medical School outside the US or Puerto Rico.
 
zobay said:
The recruiter I spoke to as well as a current student said as long as it was accredited in the US, I can.
Click to expand...
No.

Honestly, you're better off not going to a Caribbean school, anyway. If you aren't accepted to a US MD or DO school, apply again after improving your application, or choose a different line of work.

Caribbean medical schools are like pawn shops ... saturated with the stink of disappointment, sadness, and broken dreams.
 
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