- Joined
- Jul 5, 2005
- Messages
- 1,897
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There seems to be so much negativity here I thought I would share some of my experiences in Navy HPSP. I applied and was accepted for the scholarship during my senior year of college. I went to a private medical school where the tuition was pricey. During medical school, I rotated at Bethesda and San Diego. The TAD periods were great as they were fun and the amount of money I made increased compared to the normal monthly stipend. During medical school, the military paid for all my books and equipment.
I completed an internship at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. I found Navy training to be very rigourous. I passed part 3 of the USMLE without any difficulty. My wife and I owned a house for 1 year and because of the housing boom were able to pay off my wife's school loans with the profit.
Initially I prepared for a GMO tour. My wife and I tried to look at this in a postive light: For one thing we would be getting a 15K annual bonus. Another was that we could travel and see the world. A big thing was having GMO and department head on my resume. Those words would be a trump card for the next selection board and give me access to almost any medical subspecialty desired.
Unexpectedly I ended up starting a residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. The hospital there is very clean and modern. The hospital has great equipment and a nice parking garage. Portsmouth is busy but was a great place to train because there is a very diverse patient population. During residency, I participated in research. One article I wrote was accepted for publication. The Navy paid for me several times for to attend national meetings for research presentations.
I ended up being the chief resident for my training program. After graduating, I passed my board exams. I had to take two separate parts for the boards. With travel both exams amounted to $5000. The Navy reimbursed me for all of that.
After graduating residency, I received orders to go to San Diego. I had purchased a new house there. Unfortunately my orders were changed at the last minute. At the time I was devestated however it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened. The contract I had signed for the house required that I live in it a certain period of time before selling it. Because my orders were cancelled, I was able to get out of the contract and sell the house after owning it for 2 weeks making a substantial profit.
I'm leaving for an overseas assignment soon. Our house in Virginia that we were able to afford because of the VA home loan has doubled in value. We've decided to hang on to the property and are leasing it to an incoming resident. A colleague who attended USUHS had a similar success story with real estate. She purchased a home in the Washington, D.C. area as a first year medical student and ended up leasing it out after she graduated. Her home is worth several hundred thousand dollars more than what she paid initially.
My wife and I married during my second year of medical school. Our first child was born at the end of internship. Our second child was born when I was a 3rd year resident. The Navy paid 100% of the health care costs of all my family members including delivery, appointments and medications. Once one of my family members got sick while on vacation. The Navy even paid for that. This is true for your patients too. If you write for a certain medication or radiologic study, the military will pay for it.
It's true that the Navy has adopted a HMO style system with increased emphasis on productivity. That can be frustrating at times. On the other hand those pressures are everywhere. The hardest thing about the Navy I have found is the detailing process, deployment and unpredictability. For example it is hard to uproot your family. Unfortunately that's the reality of the Navy. If you can learn to tolerate the hard parts the rest is easy and you've got a retirement pension with healthcare benefits waiting for you.
I completed an internship at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. I found Navy training to be very rigourous. I passed part 3 of the USMLE without any difficulty. My wife and I owned a house for 1 year and because of the housing boom were able to pay off my wife's school loans with the profit.
Initially I prepared for a GMO tour. My wife and I tried to look at this in a postive light: For one thing we would be getting a 15K annual bonus. Another was that we could travel and see the world. A big thing was having GMO and department head on my resume. Those words would be a trump card for the next selection board and give me access to almost any medical subspecialty desired.
Unexpectedly I ended up starting a residency at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. The hospital there is very clean and modern. The hospital has great equipment and a nice parking garage. Portsmouth is busy but was a great place to train because there is a very diverse patient population. During residency, I participated in research. One article I wrote was accepted for publication. The Navy paid for me several times for to attend national meetings for research presentations.
I ended up being the chief resident for my training program. After graduating, I passed my board exams. I had to take two separate parts for the boards. With travel both exams amounted to $5000. The Navy reimbursed me for all of that.
After graduating residency, I received orders to go to San Diego. I had purchased a new house there. Unfortunately my orders were changed at the last minute. At the time I was devestated however it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened. The contract I had signed for the house required that I live in it a certain period of time before selling it. Because my orders were cancelled, I was able to get out of the contract and sell the house after owning it for 2 weeks making a substantial profit.
I'm leaving for an overseas assignment soon. Our house in Virginia that we were able to afford because of the VA home loan has doubled in value. We've decided to hang on to the property and are leasing it to an incoming resident. A colleague who attended USUHS had a similar success story with real estate. She purchased a home in the Washington, D.C. area as a first year medical student and ended up leasing it out after she graduated. Her home is worth several hundred thousand dollars more than what she paid initially.
My wife and I married during my second year of medical school. Our first child was born at the end of internship. Our second child was born when I was a 3rd year resident. The Navy paid 100% of the health care costs of all my family members including delivery, appointments and medications. Once one of my family members got sick while on vacation. The Navy even paid for that. This is true for your patients too. If you write for a certain medication or radiologic study, the military will pay for it.
It's true that the Navy has adopted a HMO style system with increased emphasis on productivity. That can be frustrating at times. On the other hand those pressures are everywhere. The hardest thing about the Navy I have found is the detailing process, deployment and unpredictability. For example it is hard to uproot your family. Unfortunately that's the reality of the Navy. If you can learn to tolerate the hard parts the rest is easy and you've got a retirement pension with healthcare benefits waiting for you.
