People who graduated with HPSP. Is it worth?

[besteyedee]

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Looking for advice on HPSP.

Is it worth it? Yes, the money aspect MUST be worth is because of the debt I will have once I graduate. But, after lurking threads some say it may not be worth because of your lifestyle while serving. I want to ask current dentists who are serving or have served. Please let me/us know about the pros and cons.

I am also too late to apply for this cycle. I would have to apply during my D1 this fall. Do they look at D1 grades? My DAT is average and my undergrad GPA is low. But my master's GPA is decent.

*A few things I've read and questions regarding those*
- not many cases. mostly cleanings and composites
- bases are usually located in 'boring' areas so not much to do after work. Navy: 'you're stuck on a boat'
- you do unnecessary chores

I feel like I would be okay with lifestyle as I'm more of a homebody and go out once or twice a week to meet with friends. But if I'm doing the basic procedures for 3 years and I decide to stop serving after my term, would it be like learning all over again? Also, what other unnecessary chores would you have to do as a dentist?

Thank you all who reply and thank you for your service.

 

[joeexotic]

I think if you are 100% sure you want to do dentistry, and you are fine with just being a general dentist, then it's a great route to take. Worst thing is if you discover your really don't like general dentistry you are stuck giving them their 4 years back doing something you hate. if your drop out you will owe them back their money. not a good option.

also if you apply as a D1, you will owe 4 not 3 years and you won't get the sign on bonus, or a reduced bonus.

just make sure your full committed to dentistry before you get in bed with the military.

 

[SirBrotherJam]

I think if you are 100% sure you want to do dentistry, and you are fine with just being a general dentist, then it's a great route to take. Worst thing is if you discover your really don't like general dentistry you are stuck giving them their 4 years back doing something you hate. if your drop out you will owe them back their money. not a good option. or if your hate general and want to specialize through tem then you will owe them even more time. they dont offer all specialties, so if its something not offered, you will have to complete the 4 years then apply to specialties.

also if you apply as a D1, you will owe 4 not 3 years and you won't get the sign on bonus, or a reduced bonus.

just make sure your full committed to dentistry before you get in bed with the military.

Did HPSP, currently in Navy and served for 5 years, deployed on a ship ect. This is not necessarily true. I know plenty of people that acquired specialty training before your obligation was completed AND their payback was concurrent with their HPSP payback. Upon graduating, I had a lot of my classmates come and tell me they wish they did what I did. The debt doesn't really hit you until you are looking at loans worth $300k+ (wife had the loans so i know the feeling of paying them back). Things to consider, you will not make as much as your civilian classmates before taxes, but you also don't have to pay malpractice, DEA, health insurance, very cheap life insurance and actually ends up being somewhat comparable. CE is very easy to come by. You will experience some awesome stuff. Another benefit is that you can treatment plan with out worrying about cost to patient and it is very easy to work with specialist to take on more complex cases if interested in specializing. I don't regret any of it and now I'm getting out, going to Endo with the GI bill. Residencies love military and the experience that comes with it. If you want to do civilian and then do your own thing, then yes you would have to wait otherwise. You will be an Officer so collateral jobs will be asked of you but I don't mostly crowns, endo, and could easily do complex OS. Feel free to AMA.

 

[RUlaxin]

Looking for advice on HPSP.

Is it worth it? Yes, the money aspect MUST be worth is because of the debt I will have once I graduate. But, after lurking threads some say it may not be worth because of your lifestyle while serving. I want to ask current dentists who are serving or have served. Please let me/us know about the pros and cons.

I am also too late to apply for this cycle. I would have to apply during my D1 this fall. Do they look at D1 grades? My DAT is average and my undergrad GPA is low. But my master's GPA is decent.

*A few things I've read and questions regarding those*
- not many cases. mostly cleanings and composites
- bases are usually located in 'boring' areas so not much to do after work. Navy: 'you're stuck on a boat'
- you do unnecessary chores

I feel like I would be okay with lifestyle as I'm more of a homebody and go out once or twice a week to meet with friends. But if I'm doing the basic procedures for 3 years and I decide to stop serving after my term, would it be like learning all over again? Also, what other unnecessary chores would you have to do as a dentist?

Thank you all who reply and thank you for your service.

I think if you don't have someone financing a private dental school tuition, then YES, the HPSP is absolutely worth it. I don't think students entering dental school without a benefactor understand the magnitude of 400k+ in debt. It is an INSANE amount of money to overcome. I look at my scholarship as a 750k scholarship when I think of the money I would have had to eventually pay back with interest.

I am currently in the Army. Got the 3 year HPSP during D2, they back-paid tuition and fees. I am on the hook for 3 years. I could have had the option for a 25k signing bonus but would have had to pay back an additional year, bringing it to a 4 year pay back. They will not look at your D1 grades.

My lifestyle is great. I work at a smaller Army clinic and work with some awesome people and we have a blast everyday. We get together outside of work and do things like golf and go to breweries, just like you could be doing anywhere else.

Yea you will do "additional duties", some examples are Infection Control Officer and Patient Safety Officer, but if you were to own a practice you would also have a ton of additional duties, as your job doesn't start or end with the dentistry.

There are so many little perks.. For example, you can get a military discount just about anywhere you go for things like hotels and restaurants. You can get premium credit cards with great features for free while on Active Duty. These are just a few to name and are trivial for most people, but they can add up.

Also by being active duty for 3 years, you can get access to the post-911 GI Bill. You can use this for a completely free/discounted residency after your service obligation is over, plus money for living expenses.

My wife begged me not to take the scholarship and now says it was the best financial decision we made.

PM me for more questions/details, as I can't fit everything in here.

 

[LFA20]

Looking for advice on HPSP.

Is it worth it? Yes, the money aspect MUST be worth is because of the debt I will have once I graduate. But, after lurking threads some say it may not be worth because of your lifestyle while serving. I want to ask current dentists who are serving or have served. Please let me/us know about the pros and cons.

I am also too late to apply for this cycle. I would have to apply during my D1 this fall. Do they look at D1 grades? My DAT is average and my undergrad GPA is low. But my master's GPA is decent.

*A few things I've read and questions regarding those*
- not many cases. mostly cleanings and composites
- bases are usually located in 'boring' areas so not much to do after work. Navy: 'you're stuck on a boat'
- you do unnecessary chores

I feel like I would be okay with lifestyle as I'm more of a homebody and go out once or twice a week to meet with friends. But if I'm doing the basic procedures for 3 years and I decide to stop serving after my term, would it be like learning all over again? Also, what other unnecessary chores would you have to do as a dentist?

Thank you all who reply and thank you for your service.

I am currently finishing up my second year of a 4-year payback with the navy. So far it has been good. If you are attending a school that costs 300k+ I would absolutely do HPSP. A few of my friends now told me they wished they had gone through the military route.

Your experience will vary depending upon which branch you are serving in, the location of the base, and chain of command at the time you are serving. In general I haven’t had to do many admin work so far. Yes you may be told to do certain things outside of dentistry but it will be very minimal.

The procedures you do will be mainly operatives with few crowns , endo, and extractions here and there. You usually will not do any hygiene unless you are assigned to a ship where you will be the only dentist.

In terms of duty stations it’s mostly luck of the draw. You could get lucky and be assigned to a more desirable clinic(San Diego, Japan, etc) but it all depends on the needs of the navy at that time. Also what might be boring to you may not be for others(I know some people who think camp lejeune is not boring...) lol..

The beauty of serving in the navy is that you can ask for green side billet assignments. It may not be in a nice location per se but you will pretty much just be working in a shore clinic.

You’d be surprised that the bulk of the procedures you do will be similar to those in private practice for newly minted dentists. A lot of my friends in pp/corporate mainly do basic operatives and crowns and extractions and endo. Very very few are doing implants and other more technical procedures.

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

As a heads up, the HPSP is about to become a lot more competitive, since the military is reducing its number of dentists. Someone posted in the military dentistry sub-forum that the Navy will be offering about half of the scholarships this upcoming cycle than it did in the previous one.

Navy - PSA: Quantity of Navy scholarships are going to be dramatically reduced

After attending a recent course at Bethesda NSA/Walter Reed, I had the pleasure of getting a Navy Dental Corps update from our RADM and Deputy Corps Chief. I won't go into the boring details of what is going on with military medicine/dentistry and the DHA (Defense Health Agency), I simply wanted...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Big Hoss

 

[cluelessdr]

I think if you don't have someone financing a private dental school tuition, then YES, the HPSP is absolutely worth it. I don't think students entering dental school without a benefactor understand the magnitude of 400k+ in debt. It is an INSANE amount of money to overcome. I look at my scholarship as a 750k scholarship when I think of the money I would have had to eventually pay back with interest.

I am currently in the Army. Got the 3 year HPSP during D2, they back-paid tuition and fees. I am on the hook for 3 years. I could have had the option for a 25k signing bonus but would have had to pay back an additional year, bringing it to a 4 year pay back. They will not look at your D1 grades.

My lifestyle is great. I work at a smaller Army clinic and work with some awesome people and we have a blast everyday. We get together outside of work and do things like golf and go to breweries, just like you could be doing anywhere else.

Yea you will do "additional duties", some examples are Infection Control Officer and Patient Safety Officer, but if you were to own a practice you would also have a ton of additional duties, as your job doesn't start or end with the dentistry.

There are so many little perks.. For example, you can get a military discount just about anywhere you go for things like hotels and restaurants. You can get premium credit cards with great features for free while on Active Duty. These are just a few to name and are trivial for most people, but they can add up.

Also by being active duty for 3 years, you can get access to the post-911 GI Bill. You can use this for a completely free/discounted residency after your service obligation is over, plus money for living expenses.

My wife begged me not to take the scholarship and now says it was the best financial decision we made.

PM me for more questions/details, as I can't fit everything in here.

i thought you have to serve 8 years to get access to GI bill? no?

 

[RUlaxin]

i thought you have to serve 8 years to get access to GI bill? no?

36 months of active duty to get 100% of benefits for yourself.

If you want to transfer it to a family member, then you need to have at least 6 years on the books at the time of transfer but then owe an additional 4 years to equal a total commitment of 10 years.