So the military pay is based on rank, a podiatrist enters service as O-3, just like any DO or MD, so the base pay, the housing allowance, and food allowance would all be the same across the board. MD and DO's in the military receive specialty pay and other bonuses based on what specialty they are in, so the hard to fill jobs, plastic surgery, orthopedics or cardiac surgery all receive very lucrative incentive pay. I don't really see specialty pay happening or being much, for podiatrists, as it is from what I have seen is not hard to fill these spots. This bill (if and when it passes) will only change the pay for VA podiatrists. The military system is a bit more complicated, as podiatrists are medical service corps no medical corps like MD and DO's. So it is a step for parity, but the military system would need a complete change for podiatry, they would have to reclassified into the medical corps, and then any specialty pay/bonuses would have to be decided. As for the Navy scholarship, the only difference is that podiatrist do not receive a signing bonus (20K), we get the same monthly stipend, all tuition and required equipment/books are covered. And again, not sure that would change in the future, the Navy at least only offers a few if any scholarships a year, and they are usually snatched up pretty quickly, so there is no need to give more incentive for recruitment. That's just my 2 cents.
