Shortest term of serving

[rusny]

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Hi!
I have a small question related to HPSP and the term of serving.
As I understand from the HPSP FAQ the 4 year scholarship equals to 4 years of active duty and reserve. So the question is, if I use that scholarship for my last year of medical school, will that be equal to 1 year of serving in military and 1 in reserve? If not, what is the shortest term of serving?
The reason for me using that scholarship is not the money. I just want to serve my country but I'm thinking that 4 years of active duty and 4 of reserve is too much for me. 😕

 

[notdeadyet]

Rusny- Check out some of the stickies. They have excellent detail on how payback works. It's a lot more complicated than you might think, if you haven't read up on it. I was considering HPSP for quite a while and it took a fair bit of reading to understand how payback is done.

So the question is, if I use that scholarship for my last year of medical school, will that be equal to 1 year of serving in military and 1 in reserve?

No. If you become an officer via HPSP (or FAP, or any other scholarship program), you will remain an officer for 8 years. The question is how much of that 8 years will need to be active duty and how much can be done IRR.

For a 1 year scholarship (editorial: insane), you will owe the military two years of service. Someone can correct me if my info is out of date, but a one year scholarship obligates you to a 1+1 active duty payback.

After a two year payback, you would owe 6 years in IRR. You would not drill, but theoretically you could be called up in time of crisis. The military folks can give you a good idea for how often that happens (very, very rarely seems to be the word).

Again, read the stickies. You may only owe 2 years, but if you want to be a residency trained physician, you will owe additional years for any year of residency beyond those two years. For instance, if you went into Psychiatry (internship + 3 yr residency), you would owe an additional year back. So if you took a 1 year scholarship, you would graduate, spend four years in a military residency, then owe three years. A 7 year military career for a one year scholarship. Caveat emptor.

If not, what is the shortest term of serving?

If you're looking for the quickest way out before you even get in, you might want to think long and hard on this.

Many folks debate whether or not HPSP is a good idea for any number of years (I decided it wasn't personally for me), but I think you'll find that even the most ardent supporters will tell you that HPSP for one year of school is a bad, bad idea.

 

[sethco]

Actually, as I remember (correct me if I am wrong), but the minimum Active Duty Service Obligation (ADSO) is 3 years. If you take a 3 year scholarship, you owe 3 years, but if you only take a 1 year scholarship, you still owe 3 years.

As stated above, though, you Minimum Service Obligation (MSO) is still 8 years, no matter who you are. Therefore, the remainder of the 8 years would have to be served in IRR/Active Reserve/Guard (5 years in this case).

Once again, as pointed out above, these only apply if are not getting residency trained. The "shortest" way out of the military would be to go do your internship year (which does not add years of service to your commitment) and then serve out 3 years of active duty as a GMO. After this, you would be discharged from active duty and serve the remainder of the 8 year MSO in IRR. Of course, you may be mobilized from the IRR back to active duty, but that is an inherent risk

 

[TheGoose]

as Sethco stated above, the minimum active duty service obligation is 3 years and the total obligation is 8 years. A one year scholarship would still need three years of active duty service. Keep in mind however, (and correct me if im wrong) that your internship counts towards your active duty service obligation. It does NOT however count towards scholarship payback.

My plan is to take a two year scholarship, serve the military internship and then complete a 2 year GMO tour. This would then complete the minimum ADSO and the last 5 years of the MSO would be spent on IRR. This would then give you the option to opt out and go to a civilian internship or to stay in if you like it.......i might change my mind and opt for a 3 yr scholarship if i decide to go flight surgery (which has 6 month training and 2 year tour) but i havent got there yet

 

[sethco]

Keep in mind however, (and correct me if im wrong) that your internship counts towards your active duty service obligation. It does NOT however count towards scholarship payback.

My plan is to take a two year scholarship, serve the military internship and then complete a 2 year GMO tour. This would then complete the minimum ADSO and the last 5 years of the MSO would be spent on IRR.

Unfortunately, this is not correct.

You're internship year is considered "neutral", meaning that it does not count towards your 3 year ADSO. However, if you do a military internship, it does count towards the 8 year MSO. A civilian internship year would not count towards your MSO.

Under your plan, by taking the 2 year scholarship and then completing a military internship year, you would then have to serve 3 years as a GMO, and then 4 years in IRR/Guard/Active Reserve, thus completing the 8 year MSO

Hope this helps.

 

[TheGoose]

by no means am i trying to argue semantics with you, sethco, but i was basing my information on the hpsp payback chart for the 2 yr scholarship. Check out the highlighted section below. If im reading it right, it says 2 yr scholarship, plus mil internship, without residency = 2 years of payback (GMO).

if im reading the chart wrong please let me know cause then my whole thought process is off

 

[usnavdoc]

by no means am i trying to argue semantics with you, sethco, but i was basing my information on the hpsp payback chart for the 2 yr scholarship. Check out the highlighted section below. If im reading it right, it says 2 yr scholarship, plus mil internship, without residency = 2 years of payback (GMO).

if im reading the chart wrong please let me know cause then my whole thought process is off

QUOTE]

What is CSAB in your chart?

 

[73BARMYPgsp]

Ahhh yes my favorite kind of thread. The "what is the shortest possible time I can do" kind. Notdeadyet pointed out the obvious here. If you are wondering that before you even join, please re-think.

 

[TheGoose]

by no means am i trying to argue semantics with you, sethco, but i was basing my information on the hpsp payback chart for the 2 yr scholarship. Check out the highlighted section below. If im reading it right, it says 2 yr scholarship, plus mil internship, without residency = 2 years of payback (GMO).

if im reading the chart wrong please let me know cause then my whole thought process is off

QUOTE]

What is CSAB in your chart?

Critical Skills Accession Bonus (CSAB)

 

[sethco]

That is interesting, Goose. I always thought that internship, whether military or civilian, was commitment neutral. i thought it would count towards the 8 year MSO, but not your ADSO. Does it actually say this in your contract that you signed? Just curious.

 

[NavyFP]

That is interesting, Goose. I always thought that internship, whether military or civilian, was commitment neutral. i thought it would count towards the 8 year MSO, but not your ADSO. Does it actually say this in your contract that you signed? Just curious.

The CSAB infers a minimum service obligation(MSO) not a training obligation. So internship, residency, fellowship all count towards payback of an MSO. they just have their own training obligations.

 

[TheGoose]

That is interesting, Goose. I always thought that internship, whether military or civilian, was commitment neutral. i thought it would count towards the 8 year MSO, but not your ADSO. Does it actually say this in your contract that you signed? Just curious.

from what i understand sethco, the military internship does count towards the active duty service commitment but doesnt count for the payback commitment from HPSP...i havent signed the contract yet - just still in the research phase but i have heard that the mil intern counts to ADSO and not payback from a couple of resources.

EDIT: note how in the chart, a civilian deferment does not count for the ADSO and still requires 3 years of operational duty. so it seems unique to the military internship.