Questions about Military Veterinarians

[kanderson615]

Hello all!

I have heard several times about a program where veterinarians can go to military bases for a few years and act as on-site vets for military animals and on-base pets. I've been told that if you work for the military in this way for three years they'll help you repay your student loans. Obviously that's very tempting since vet school is so expensive, so I was wondering if anyone had any more experience with this than just plain hearsay (as I do)? And if you do, I have several questions:

Is it an actual program or do you just do a job search somewhere?

Are there a set number of years you have to sign up for?

Do you know how much of your student loans they'll pay off per year?

How competitive is it to become a military veterinarian?

Thank you everyone!

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[cowgirla]

PM me if you want and I can give you the name of a vet at Okstate who might be able to answer your questions for you. She is active in the army, and might be able to talk to you about deployments and what she does and all that. She talked to us last year about the program, so she does know the details of that as well.

 

[jalyndani]

I'm interested in this as well, but haven't been able to come across any concrete info from reliable sources. Everything I've heard so far has been heresay and speculation.

Sending you a PM, cowgirl.

 

[SpunkyMaddie]

here is a link to what I was able to find about it

http://vetopportunities.amedd.army.mil/hpsp.html

 

[ARC99]

HPSP is a scholarship (a very competitive one) that you must apply for once you're already in vet school. I believe it's after you complete your first semester and if you're granted the scholarship, it starts paying your tuition after your first year. Therefore, you pay the first then they pay the last 3. But, if I remember correctly, you will then serve 3 years active duty after graduation and then 5 years of reserve. There are more details in the link I posted, so I'd start there.

Once I decided to go back to school to pursue vet school, I spoke to an Army recruiter at length about this option (and others as well), but it may have changed since then...this was back in 2009. If you don't get the scholarship, you can always get commissioned as an officer after you graduate vet school and the obligation is very similar (3 years active and 5 years reserve). With each option, you'll go in as a captain, so that's pretty cool!

But, this is not something to take lightly. You will most likely be based overseas and it is not guaranteed that you will get based where you want. The recruiter told me this word for word, so don't expect to become a vet on an American base right away...or at all. If you're serious about it, go talk to your local Army Recruitment Office...they're very helpful and you obviously don't have to make any decisions right away.

Hope this helps!

http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/education/hpsp.html

 

[cry]

Im on the HPSP 3 year scholarship right now and know a little bit about what your talking about. It is my understanding that the army is seriously reducing the amount of civilian veterinarians it contracts with (moving towards an all military vet workforce). I was also told that the military has lowered the number of available HPSP scholarships for this upcoming year (so it will be even more competitive for the time being). Anyways dont quote me on this since I have not seen anything official. One last thing, the vet HPSP scholarship is the most competitive military scholarship, they only offered 17 or 18 three year scholarships (i cant remember exactly) across the country last year. Good luck.

 

[fromthebox]

another helpful link to options beyond HPSP http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/army-health-care-corps/vet/benefits.html

 

[kanderson615]

Tamara Gull, who cowgirla suggested I email, emailed me back today! Here's her info for anyone who's interested:

There are several different programs that the Army currently offers. The caveat is that all or none may still be in place by the time you want to use them; it all depends on how many vets the Army has versus how many it needs.

The program I think you have heard of is one where you go to vet school, graduate, and then apply to join the Army as an active duty soldier (i.e. you work for the Army full-time). There may be various incentives available to get new vets to join. Right now there is a loan-repayment incentive which I think covers up to $150,000 in loans for a total seven-year commitment (at least three years active and four in the active Reserves). I am not absolutely sure on any of those numbers; for specific detail you will need to talk to a Army health care recruiter. Our local recruiter is Sergeant First Class Lindsay Dolly, 405-670-5958. She’s in OKC. I would encourage you to talk to her regarding specifics of these programs. However, recruiters exist to get people to join, so I would also suggest you not believe anything unless it is in a contract. J

There are also incentives which just pay you money directly rather than on your loans. The amount is less (the latest I have heard is $75,000 over 3 years) and the commitment is the same (3 yrs active, 4 Reserves).

There is also the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). This is a competitive application program that you can begin applying for as soon as you enter vet school (maybe even sooner? Ask SFC Dolly). It offers 1, 2 or 3 year scholarships that pay for your tuition, fees, books and a living stipend. The active-duty commitment begins as soon as you graduate and varies depending on the number of years of scholarships you received. This is very competitive, with only 24 scholarships per year being offered nationwide. It also requires that you spend 6 weeks a year during vet school (i.e. summers) at an Army post.

All of these programs require that you be an active duty soldier, in uniform. You would only be running a vet clinic part of the time. Army vets are also required to do a great deal of food inspection and food safety, manage/supervise soldiers and do public health activities as well as oversee the care of the Military Working Dogs. Running the vet clinic for soldiers’ pets is the lowest priority as far as the Army is concerned, and you may only be doing that ~25% of your time. If clinical practice is your goal, the Army is not going to provide it.

Joining the Reserves rather than active duty also has incentives. Last I heard they were similar, but for a total 7-year Reserve commitment (that’s the one-weekend-a-month, 2-weeks-a-year, deploy every 5 years thing). That would allow you to pursue a civilian career if you wanted. However, you WOULD deploy at some point to a far-away place for 6 months to a year. This invariably occurs at the least convenient time for you. J

Finally, the Army does hire civilian vets. They’re called NAF vets (non-appropriated funds) and help run their privately-owned animal vet clinics. However, there are no loan repayment incentives or anything for NAF vets.

Hopefully that answers at least some of your questions. I would recommend you talk to SFC Dolly about what exactly is available right now, then if you are still interested or have further questions you are always welcome to ask them of me. Good luck!

 

[skinn1212]

I am not too sure about the program for vet students but I was in the army and served in Afghanistan so if anybody has any questions feel free to ask.