Military

[PuKcAo]

I know the Air Force and Army both offer a program where one signs up upon being accepted to med school. Throughout med school the student gets his tuition paid for and a paycheck as well. I'm guessing you owe them several years afterwards.

Well does anyone know the specifics? Like, if you have to enter a specific specialty or they only pay tuition up to a certain amount. Would they pay for 40k/yr? What are the downsides?

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[iamgoaloriented]

I know the Air Force and Army both offer a program where one signs up upon being accepted to med school. Throughout med school the student gets his tuition paid for and a paycheck as well. I'm guessing you owe them several years afterwards.

Well does anyone know the specifics? Like, if you have to enter a specific specialty or they only pay tuition up to a certain amount. Would they pay for 40k/yr? What are the downsides?

You have to serve as a military doc for every year you do the scholarship. Can specialize in anything (although if they want to screw you they probably can) and are supposed to do a residency with them. The military residency usually pays more than a civilian one, but military docs make less money (pay no malpractice insurance though).

Other than the money they offer, practicing medicine in the military might be better in some ways because it a different system (not managed care). You will be debt free and be making more money early on. Later on you might be making more or less depending on what you are doing and where you are. Whether or not you would like practicing in military better than in civilian life I cant say.

You would probably get sent around a lot. Travel is good, having harder time settling down is not.

There are a lot of pos and neg, many of which really depend on you.

 

[PuKcAo]

You have to serve as a military doc for every year you do the scholarship. Can specialize in anything (although if they want to screw you they probably can) and are supposed to do a residency with them. The military residency usually pays more than a civilian one, but military docs make less money (pay no malpractice insurance though).

Other than the money they offer, practicing medicine in the military might be better in some ways because it a different system (not managed care). You will be debt free and be making more money early on. Later on you might be making more or less depending on what you are doing and where you are. Whether or not you would like practicing in military better than in civilian life I cant say.

You would probably get sent around a lot. Travel is good, having harder time settling down is not.

There are a lot of pos and neg, many of which really depend on you.

But they do pay for you no matter what school and how expensive it is.

 

[iamgoaloriented]

But they do pay for you no matter what school and how expensive it is.

Yes.

The navy has one to.

 

[virilep]

this is what you need to read.

http://lukeballard.tripod.com/HPSP.html

 

[PuKcAo]

this is what you need to read.

http://lukeballard.tripod.com/HPSP.html

Good stuff

 

[flash]

Check under Military Med forum, lots of stuff

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=72

 

[MoosePilot]

Google for "health professions scholarship program". Add in the name of the service if you're only interested in one. You should be able to find phone numbers that way, too. I can get you the phone number for someone in the AF if you're interested. Definitely look at the mil med forum. There are a lot of downsides to any military service and it's best to know that before you make such a huge decision.

 

[Caesars0331]

You should not be using the military as a way to facilitate your way to becoming a doctor. You should go into the military as a means of serving your country.

Now, if you feel that you could do a lot of good to the troops across the world, so be it. You just might end up doing something you really dont want to, though, and I cant say Id feel sorry for you.

Alpha Company
Weapons Plt
1st Bn. 3rd Mar. 3rd Mar Div

 

[djipopo]

But they do pay for you no matter what school and how expensive it is.

Actually, it can depend on the school ur going to. For example, next year, they are reducingthe number of scholarships they award at georgetown cos its so expensive for them and they could sponsor two students at another school woth what they use for one in georgetown. So is more competetive if u go to an expensive school. If you do get it though, they will cover the entire cost no matter how much it is.

 

[8744]

You should not be using the military as a way to facilitate your way to becoming a doctor. You should go into the military as a means of serving your country.

Now, if you feel that you could do a lot of good to the troops across the world, so be it. You just might end up doing something you really dont want to, though, and I cant say Id feel sorry for you.

Alpha Company
Weapons Plt
1st Bn. 3rd Mar. 3rd Mar Div

Figgin'-A, Devil Dog. If all you want is for somebody to pay your way through medical school then you need to sit down with a spreadsheet and evaluate the free tutition and stipend against future decreased wages. You'd probably find that it is either going to be a wash if you plan on a career in pediatrics or familiy practice or you will come out way behind if you're shooting for surgery or dermatology.

I strongly support the military and anybody who wants to enlist or get commisioned. If you really want to be a military doctor then by all means take advantage of the benefits of the HPSP.

Caeser0331, are you thinking of medical school after your enlistment?

Sincerely,

Sgt. P. Bear, USMC (former)
Weapons Platoon
Kilo Company
3rd Battalion 8th Marines

 

[Old_Mil]

There's also a program available through the national guard - the medical student commissioning program. You apply for a commission after you're admitted to medical school and are put on a guaranteed no deploy status till you're done. You get to do a civilian residency instead of a military residency and get paid guard pay while in med school and residency. In residency they'll pay $20,000 x 2 and $10,000 ($50,000 total) towards your student loans over three years.

Perhaps the nicest part of this is that by the time your schooling and residency is done, you have 7 years already put in towards the 20 you need for retirement.

The downside is that you have to do student loans up front to pay for med school, the upside is that being attached to a state guard you're not going to get moved all over the 50 from assignment to assignment and I think the perks are better (certainly, I think having your 20 year clock run from day 1 instead of the point you graduate from medical school and the geographic stability the guard offers more than offsets the $ value difference between this program and the HPSP.)

Hopefully I'll be heading to OIC in San Antonio this summer.

 

[USCTex]

You should not be using the military as a way to facilitate your way to becoming a doctor. You should go into the military as a means of serving your country.

Now, if you feel that you could do a lot of good to the troops across the world, so be it. You just might end up doing something you really dont want to, though, and I cant say Id feel sorry for you.

Alpha Company
Weapons Plt
1st Bn. 3rd Mar. 3rd Mar Div

That's sort of a narrow minded view. Is it your experience that the vast majority of soldiers are in the military because they want to serve their country? Would you fight a war next to a draftee?

Now don't get me wrong, I am huge supporter of the military. But a large number of people talk to a recruiter because they don't have any other legit options or they think this will make the best life for them...and their patriotism isn't their number 1 driving force. Take my cousin, drops out of H.S., gets his GED is baging groceries and so enlisting looks like a dream sitting across from a recruiter...but he didn't sign up cause he was gung-ho about defending America...

And yes you can get screwed doing some residency you don't want to but the odds seem against...and if you're looking at a 200,000 debt at the end of some private school...man...well, I don't know how decreased pay stacks up...but if you're going to a private med school and you don't want to be a general practicioner then you might as well crunch the numbers and see...remember those loans are going to start racking up terrible interest...

[EDIT]
All three branches also have something called FAP (Fee Assistance Program...I think it stands for) and its a lot like the national guard option. In fact FAP might not be solely limited to med students. However, You sign up for the reserves after you match your residency and if its a residency they need then they'll pay like 50,000 or something of your med school loans.