Military HSPS lifestyle questions

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

Hello there! I have been scouring the internet for answers to my questions, but I guess not many people are wondering the things I am? It would be nice if the army/navy recruiters office gave me a call back....

so some background information (for questions only go to Paragraph 3): I have always wanted to serve in the military for some time. I was talking to a recruiter about ROTC, but my father smacked me until I agreed not to serve. (funny, considering he was a sniper for the Korean army). Being able to serve as a dentist sounds SOO appealing to me: I don't mind being sent to other countries (adventure I guess?), practicing more before opening a clinic and practicing on judgmental civilians , being able to serve servicemen and women that fight for our country, the pride that comes from saying you are an officer in the army, and the debt part sounds pretty good too.

Anyways, my questions are:

1. This is my most concerning question out of all: when i serve after my dental school education, i'll likely be 28 or 29 considering that I'm turning 23 and am just applying for dental school this June. At that age, i'm worried that I may have a family to worry about, and I'm curious as to the lifestyle of a military dentist. Will I never be able to see my future wife for 3 years except in brief periods of a few days? Can a personal life like the latter be incorporated during my service? And Is it true that deployments for dentists are now 9 months instead of 6 months? My greatest fear is that my wife will be giving birth to our first child, and i'll miss it because of my deployment overseas... I don't know how i'd be able to forgive myself.

2. I've read many different answers pertaining the lifestyle of a military dentist, but it still seems uncertain to me. Someone said that military dentists won't have to train as rigorously as other servicemen, but another post said that I could end up running 6 miles three times a week. Are both these situations likely? I do jog as exercise, but 6 miles three times a week seems very intense, considering the chances of me getting killed in combat are low.

3. What are the chances that I get into a dental school but get rejected for all branches of HSPS, and if that is the case, is it bad to turn down an acceptance? I know that some branches like AF are incredibly difficult, but seeing as how my grades are not great (3.3-4~, 20DAT), I'm not sure if I'd be accepted as recipient in any branch. I'd like to try again if I could, to get into the military with my dental acceptance.

4. is the three year program more selective than the four year program? (3 years paid off, 3 years of active service?)

I should probably be more worried about GETTING ACCEPTED into a dental school first, considering my low stats... but I know that for HSPS programs you have to apply around the same time as your dental school cycle, so i'm just asking questions before I decide to fully commit in a few months (assuming I get accepted).

Thank you so much, and if someone who has personal experience with this will let me pm them, that would be amazing.

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[BluntForceTrauma]

1) Family to worry about? Same boat, and not hesitating for a minute. You'll see them a heck of a lot more than "brief periods of a few days." Deployments happen, but they aren't all the time, or forever. I have a friend, married with 3 kids, who was Army 4-year repayment, and his wife absolutely LOVED their experience, even with the deployments. Frankly, I'd be more worried about the debt load and the impact that'll have on the family/kids. Also, unless you're already married/engaged, I'd not count those little chickens quite yet.

2) I can't speak to the training quite yet, as I'm not in active duty/repayment yet. However, I'd say that if you consider 6 miles 3 times a week intense for the military, you're in for an interesting time as this really isn't that crazy. I'd be more worried about the pushups than the running.

3) Impossible to answer as so many factors go into it for both (i.e. both dental school, and the Air Force HPSP require in-person interviews (with few exceptions to the former) so you may look great on paper, but then suck in real life). I will say the military generally does a better job at the "whole applicant approach" as I didn't have insane stats (3.5GPA w/ 21AA) but did have stellar, and I do mean stellar, leadership/service/personal skills. The interview I had with the Air Force Colonel went amazing and they were super impressed with my application as a whole, never mentioning the GPA or DAT.

4) Depends on the branch. Air Force 4-Year is ridiculous competitive while the 3-year is less-so because there are more scholarships available (last year it was something like 12 4-year scholarships with 50 3-year). Army is much fewer slots for the 3-year so it becomes, theoretically, more competitive. Navy 3-year are rollovers from the 4-year applicants, so if you miss applying for the 4-year, you aren't able to apply for 3-year.


And I would agree. Focus on getting into school, but also start applying, yesterday wouldn't have been soon enough, for the HPSP programs. The process takes forever and by the time you find out you're (hopefully) in school, it'll be too late for the 4-year scholarships. Even if you're not sure, if you have an inkling of wanting to do HPSP, apply. You can always pull out later, but you can't go back in time to start it.

 

[doctor tooth]

1. you will see your wife. for the most part as a DENTAC dentist, you work 07:15-16:15. unless you are deployed.
2. you may work out 2-3 times a week depending on which DENTAC you go to. this isn't as intense as you imagine. if you think you will be doing anything resembling a Discovery channel Navy SEAL Hell week... you are wrong. its simple exercises mostly, you can do a youtube search for ARMY PT. The bend and reach, squat bender, bent leg body twist. simple stuff. to get you moving. not torture you. maybe you will do push ups and sit ups for a couple minutes. remember, the PT test is 2 minutes of push ups and sit ups and a 2 mile run. Thats the standard. Everything is designed to prepare you to be able to complete those exercises. Not kill you.
3. I had similar scores, got into Army only (4 year), because i applied too late (1 week before school started). Air force wouldn't return calls, Navy wanted me to become a pilot when i took the ASVAB.... if you turn them down, its a personal decision. military life and service isn't for you. if they turn you down, there were plenty of applicants with higher scores for them to choose from. oh well, maybe try direct accession.
4. not sure if 3 is more selective. probably is depending on year. but i have no data to back that up.

 

[Armyhealth]

Army Healthcare recruiter here, would be glad to put you in touch with a recruiter that will work with you.

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

Thanks to everyone for your replies; will probably read each one again later.

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

1) Family to worry about? Same boat, and not hesitating for a minute. You'll see them a heck of a lot more than "brief periods of a few days." Deployments happen, but they aren't all the time, or forever. I have a friend, married with 3 kids, who was Army 4-year repayment, and his wife absolutely LOVED their experience, even with the deployments. Frankly, I'd be more worried about the debt load and the impact that'll have on the family/kids. Also, unless you're already married/engaged, I'd not count those little chickens quite yet.

2) I can't speak to the training quite yet, as I'm not in active duty/repayment yet. However, I'd say that if you consider 6 miles 3 times a week intense for the military, you're in for an interesting time as this really isn't that crazy. I'd be more worried about the pushups than the running.

3) Impossible to answer as so many factors go into it for both (i.e. both dental school, and the Air Force HPSP require in-person interviews (with few exceptions to the former) so you may look great on paper, but then suck in real life). I will say the military generally does a better job at the "whole applicant approach" as I didn't have insane stats (3.5GPA w/ 21AA) but did have stellar, and I do mean stellar, leadership/service/personal skills. The interview I had with the Air Force Colonel went amazing and they were super impressed with my application as a whole, never mentioning the GPA or DAT.

4) Depends on the branch. Air Force 4-Year is ridiculous competitive while the 3-year is less-so because there are more scholarships available (last year it was something like 12 4-year scholarships with 50 3-year). Army is much fewer slots for the 3-year so it becomes, theoretically, more competitive. Navy 3-year are rollovers from the 4-year applicants, so if you miss applying for the 4-year, you aren't able to apply for 3-year.


And I would agree. Focus on getting into school, but also start applying, yesterday wouldn't have been soon enough, for the HPSP programs. The process takes forever and by the time you find out you're (hopefully) in school, it'll be too late for the 4-year scholarships. Even if you're not sure, if you have an inkling of wanting to do HPSP, apply. You can always pull out later, but you can't go back in time to start it.

didn't realize that the number of 3 year and 4 year spots AF spots varied that much haha. I've already started meeting with an amed recruiter to talk about my application.
p.s. The reason why i was more worried about the running rather than anything else was because I do workout often, but my cardio stamina is complete ****. running has always been my weakness. Do workouts for navy/AF/Army vary between branches? like would one branch have a tendency to be more physically strenuous, or are they all similar?
Thanks for the reply by the way

 

[LFA20]

didn't realize that the number of 3 year and 4 year spots AF spots varied that much haha. I've already started meeting with an amed recruiter to talk about my application.
p.s. The reason why i was more worried about the running rather than anything else was because I do workout often, but my cardio stamina is complete ****. running has always been my weakness. Do workouts for navy/AF/Army vary between branches? like would one branch have a tendency to be more physically strenuous, or are they all similar?
Thanks for the reply by the way

Cardio is easy to build up. Start running half a mile every other day and gradually increase your pace and distance each time. In terms of difficulty I think it’s army>navy/af

 

[Armyhealth]

didn't realize that the number of 3 year and 4 year spots AF spots varied that much haha. I've already started meeting with an amed recruiter to talk about my application.
p.s. The reason why i was more worried about the running rather than anything else was because I do workout often, but my cardio stamina is complete ****. running has always been my weakness. Do workouts for navy/AF/Army vary between branches? like would one branch have a tendency to be more physically strenuous, or are they all similar?
Thanks for the reply by the way

For running as long as you can pass the physical fitness test once every 6 months you will be fine. Depends on your boss and policies how much you will be running throughout the week but most do physical fitness on their own.

for the PT test Army is a 2 mile run Navy/Air Force is a 1.5 mile run.

 

[Mr. Thirsty]

1. You will generally have a substantial amount of time to see your family. Working on base is just like working any other job really. Show up at 0715, go home at 16:15. A few days a month you will have earlier report times / later finish times due to trainings, PT tests, DENTAC meetings etc. However 80% of your days on garrison will follow that schedule. There is a chance that you will be deployed and obviously this will change things. Yes there is a chance that you will miss out on certain family events, but this is part of joining the service.

2. The PT test in the army consists of 3 events - push ups, sit-ups and a 2 mile run. You can look up the required performance for each event on Google if you want to know what is expected for your age bracket. The PT test is generally every 6 months. Many clinics will allocate physical training time in the morning/afternoon so that you can prepare for the test (blocked off on your schedule). Some clinics do not do this though, but regardless you are expected to be able to pass the PT test. Passing the PT test is a big deal, so make sure that you are maintaining your physical fitness.

3. This depends on your stats and how quickly you get a dental school acceptance. During the application process for the HPSP the most important factor is getting your packet ready so that the selection board can review it. During this process the board meets monthly to review packets and hand out acceptances (at least that is how it was back when I applied). This happens until all slots are filled. With that being said, your packet cannot be accepted by the board until you have a dental school acceptance. They will not review your packet until you have an acceptance letter from a dental school. Therefore it is really important to get that acceptance as soon as possible. If you get a late acceptance to dental school and submit your packet late then your chances decrease since you will be put on an order of merit list (OML). 3 year HPSP spots are then passed on to those on the OML. There is a limited amount of 3 year spots however.

4. In the Army at least, the 3 year scholarship is more competitive simply because there are less spots. Most people don't try for the 3 year spots, most of them are filled by those who could not secure a 4 year scholarship and ended up on the OML.

Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

 

[CougarDental]

As mentioned above, don't worry about demanding physical training. The most I've done in the Army was at BOLC and even then it was nowhere near the stuff I did for sports in high school. In our current DENTAC, we're responsible for PT on our own and typically do a 2 mile "commander's run" once a month in formation at about a 10 min mile pace. As long as you pass your APFT, nobody will bother you about it.

 

[MD Dental]

This was really helpful! I am an incoming D1 student considering the HSPS military program, and I was wondering a lot of the same things! I have a few additional/ follow-up questions too:

1. Do any of the military branches offer 2 year scholarship programs?

2. What credentials does the military use to evaluate applicants who apply part-way through dental school (for 2 or 3 year programs) versus applicants who begin the process before entering dental school? Do they still look at DAT, undergrad GPA, etc?

3. How quickly do you begin working as a dentist after graduation? What type of preparation/ training do dentists complete before they can practice?

4. Where do most dentists work? I would imagine that dentists get sent abroad far less than doctors, nurses, etc. Is that accurate? What types of work environments can you expect as a military dentist?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Armyhealth]

-No branch offers a 2 year, sometimes we see one open because another student dropped out or something but it is very rare.
-They still look at the undergrad but most important is how you have done through your dental school so far. As long as you look like your on course to graduate and not be at the bottom of your class rankings you will be competitive.
-You have to apply for residency even if it is just the 1 year AEGD, after the completion of residency you start practicing.
-Most will be in a clinic, it is possible to be sent abroad but you are correct in saying it is lower for dentists then our physicians. For instance in my last deployment there was only one dentist at the combat support hospital in my area. It is possible to be apart of a combat support hospital but you would still be working in the local clinic 3-4 days a week and then working with them 1-2 days a week.

I am talking army only.

 

[InformMe123]

for army, do most clinics require group PT for dental officers in the mornings? if so, how often and at what times?

 

[Armyhealth]

for army, do most clinics require group PT for dental officers in the mornings? if so, how often and at what times?

Depends on the officer in charge of that clinic and their policies but most do not require the dentists to do PT in the morning. Most do it on their own.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

-No branch offers a 2 year, sometimes we see one open because another student dropped out or something but it is very rare.

To just correct a point, the AF does offer a 2-year scholarship currently, though slots are very limited.

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[BluntForceTrauma]

This was really helpful! I am an incoming D1 student considering the HSPS military program, and I was wondering a lot of the same things! I have a few additional/ follow-up questions too:

1. Do any of the military branches offer 2 year scholarship programs?

2. What credentials does the military use to evaluate applicants who apply part-way through dental school (for 2 or 3 year programs) versus applicants who begin the process before entering dental school? Do they still look at DAT, undergrad GPA, etc?

Thank you in advance!

I can only speak to the first couple points, as I am not a graduate yet.

1) AF has a 2-year program but slots are incredibly limited

2) 3-year is evaluated off DAT and UG scores because by the time the selection committee has met, you will not have completed a semester of D-School yet and therefore can't be evaluated on that. 2-year is based off D-School alone, and maybe masters if you have it, (as one of my good friends is grateful for because his GPA in UG disqualified him from the 3-year automatically but now it doesn't matter).


My experience is with the AF as a 3-year recipient.

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