pros and cons of HPSP

[pepocho]

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[NickNaylor]

There is an entire subforum dedicated to military medicine. I would suggest checking out the posts there and asking the people who frequent that forum.

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[pepocho]

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[mehc012]

There is an entire subforum dedicated to military medicine. I would suggest checking out the posts there and asking the people who frequent that forum.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717

What NickNaylor said, but for a basic overview:

Pros: Money
Cons: Military service, limited Residency options

Look into FAP...it's basically similar to HPSP except you don't have to commit to it ahead of time, which is a big deal considering how much your life will change over the 4yrs of med school. If you get stuck with a lot of debt, you can go into residency (aka get a field you like) and THEN do military service to pay off the loans.

The MilMed forum will have a lot more details on both of these.

 

[circulus vitios]

Cons: deployments, crap money, homogenous patient population, potentially poor training, UCMJ

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Cons: deployments, crap money, homogenous patient population, potentially poor training, UCMJ

It all depends on what trade offs you are willing to make. Immediately after residency, you likely will either be controlled by your loan debt or the military, obviously to varying degrees. You decide which one you prefer.

I don't think I would refer to the active duty, dependent, and retired military populations as "homogenous." You could potentially get poor training at a civilian residency.

HPSP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=118576

FAP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=189443

 

[circulus vitios]

It all depends on what trade offs you are willing to make. Immediately after residency, you likely will either be controlled by your loan debt or the military, obviously to varying degrees. You decide which one you prefer.

I don't think I would refer to the active duty, dependent, and retired military populations as "homogenous." You could potentially get poor training at a civilian residency.

HPSP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=118576

FAP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=189443

A patient population aged 18-56 (or whatever the max age is), majority male, all of which are physically fit to military standards isn't homogenous compared to what one would see in a civilian residency or civilian hospital?

 

[mehc012]

It all depends on what trade offs you are willing to make. Immediately after residency, you likely will either be controlled by your loan debt or the military, obviously to varying degrees. You decide which one you prefer.

I don't think I would refer to the active duty, dependent, and retired military populations as "homogenous." You could potentially get poor training at a civilian residency.

HPSP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=118576

FAP:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=189443

"Homogenous patient population" is one of the chief complaints in those forums you're linking to. It makes sense; the military is a purposefully selected population of fit, active, healthy (mostly) young adults. Retired populations weren't mentioned at all on those boards; aren't veteran health issues handled separately? I mostly saw either active duty soldiers or on-base families mentioned...and those do tend to be fairly homogenous populations.

The biggest difference between HPSP and crippling loan debt is its impact on your residency education. Sure, there's a trade-off, but only HPSP actively limits your career options in terms of available residency positions (GMO, anyone?)

Poor training is, as you mentioned, a concern either way. However, the more limited residency offerings in the military does increase the risk of ending up at the bottom end of the spectrum rather than in the middle. Just something to consider before committing yourself 4 years in advance.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

A patient population aged 18-56 (or whatever the max age is), majority male, all of which are physically fit to military standards isn't homogenous compared to what one would see in a civilian residency or civilian hospital?

Active duty physicians provide care to military dependents and retirees as well. There's a lot of very old, very sick retirees and a lot of very ill dependents. Not everyone in a military hospital is fit or male.

There are many non-military programs in small towns in this country that have far more homogenous patient populations.

 

[circulus vitios]

Active duty physicians provide care to military dependents and retirees as well. There's a lot of very old, very sick retirees and a lot of very ill dependents. Not everyone in a military hospital is fit or male.

There are many non-military programs in small towns in this country that have far more homogenous patient populations.

Aren't VA hospitals staffed by civilians?

 

[mehc012]

Aren't VA hospitals staffed by civilians?

That was my impression as well.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Aren't VA hospitals staffed by civilians?

Yes. VA hospitals see veterans (<20 years service) who qualify for VA benefits.

Active duty hospitals see retirees (20+ years of AD service) and their families. So a colonel who retired in 1973 and his wife can still come to military facilities.

 

[mehc012]

Yes. VA hospitals see veterans (<20 years service) who qualify for VA benefits.

Active duty hospitals see retirees (20+ years of AD service) and their families. So a colonel who retired in 1973 and his wife can still come to military facilities.

That's good to know, and thank you for that information...but it doesn't change the fact that the majority of patients at an active duty hospital are going to be active service and their families. That's fine...depending on the sort of medicine you want to go into. The military does place an emphasis on certain specialties, and there ARE shortages of desirable residency slots. That's true in the NRMP as well, but with a larger pool there are more opportunities. Plus, GMO = not great option.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

That's good to know, and thank you for that information...but it doesn't change the fact that the majority of patients at an active duty hospital are going to be active service and their families. That's fine...depending on the sort of medicine you want to go into. The military does place an emphasis on certain specialties, and there ARE shortages of desirable residency slots. That's true in the NRMP as well, but with a larger pool there are more opportunities. Plus, GMO = not great option.

I'm not disagreeing with you guys at all. I think there's a huge number of reasons to run away from military medicine, and I have no interest in it in any capacity. But most of those reasons relate to what happens after residency. I think you're just as likely to get good training in a military residency as a civilian one.

 

[mehc012]

I'm not disagreeing with you guys at all. I think there's a huge number of reasons to run away from military medicine, and I have no interest in it in any capacity. But most of those reasons relate to what happens after residency. I think you're just as likely to get good training in a military residency as a civilian one.

...assuming you get one in the area you would like to work in. Which is less likely in the military match than the regular one.

 

[xffan624]

Active duty physicians provide care to military dependents and retirees as well. There's a lot of very old, very sick retirees and a lot of very ill dependents. Not everyone in a military hospital is fit or male.
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+1, I worked in a military hospital for a year and a half. The fit males/females don't go to the hospital very often. You will see many children, family members, retirees of various ages. Also emergency patients go to the closest hospital, military or otherwise so the ER is definitely hopping.

Depending on the hospital, there might not be a VA hospital nearby so VA inpatients come to your facility.

 

[hownowmauvecow]

I applied and got an HSPS year scholarship (applied during second year of medical school) but decided not to take it for many of the reasons mentioned above and several others. I won't go into too much detail on why I decided to decline here, but if you want to know about that or the application process you can PM me (or check out the military med forum).