take HPSP?

[medicinepassion1]

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I'm wondering if I should take the HPSP scholarships. I understand as a DO student a competitive specialty is tough so I'd be okay with something like internal medicine, neurology, or psych or EM. However, def not fam med. I'm neutral in terms of wanting to joint the military. Don't "love" it but don't "hate' it. Does it make financial sense to join? Also how easy is it to just do the commitment then go into the civilian sector?

 

[joeception]

Financially it doesn't really work out, you should only do it if you really want to serve or you risk being miserable.

 

[Medic741]

I'm wondering if I should take the HPSP scholarships. I understand as a DO student a competitive specialty is tough so I'd be okay with something like internal medicine, neurology, or psych or EM. However, def not fam med. I'm neutral in terms of wanting to joint the military. Don't "love" it but don't "hate' it. Does it make financial sense to join? Also how easy is it to just do the commitment then go into the civilian sector?

Do you want to be in the military?

Are you ok giving up a lot of choice/flexibility for the intangible benefits of serving your country and being locked into a contract that you cannot get out of?

If you're neutral to wanting to join then DO NOT take the scholarship. I'm an MS2 Army HPSP and really happy with the decision to join, but you *really* have to be ok with being in the military for it to work

 

[WoundupKnight]

Your choice really just boils down to: "Would I join the military without HSPS anyway?"
If yes, take it. If no/maybe/any other answer, don't take it.

You can also take the NHSC repayment which covers:
o Family Medicine
o Obstetrics/ Gynecology
o General Internal Medicine
o Geriatrics
o General Pediatrics
o General Psychiatry

plus other NHSC programs that accept any specialty. There's also state programs that do the same.

 

[dohopeful13]

Your choice really just boils down to: "Would I join the military without HSPS anyway?"
If yes, take it. If no/maybe/any other answer, don't take it.

You can also take the NHSC repayment which covers:
o Family Medicine
o Obstetrics/ Gynecology
o General Internal Medicine
o Geriatrics
o General Pediatrics
o General Psychiatry

plus other NHSC programs that accept any specialty. There's also state programs that do the same.

NHSC is a valid option but do know it is a competitive program and you likely won't learn if you've been accepted until August.

Agree with the others though. If you've never had any desire to be military I wouldn't do it. We're talking 4-7 years of your life here.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Could do MDSSP and be a reservist.

 

[WoundupKnight]

Could do MDSSP and be a reservist.

Can you explain a bit about the program? The website just says 1 year reserve drilling for 6 months of stipend.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Can you explain a bit about the program? The website just says 1 year reserve drilling for 6 months of stipend.

That explains most of it. You’ll get a monthly stipend in the same amount as HPSP students. You’ll owe 8 years to the reserves if you take all 4 years. You have full control of your life though, which is a huge perk imo. If you have any specific questions you can PM me

 

[medicinepassion1]

Say I took it, went through residency and then did my commitment. Is it easy to get back into the civilian sector? Also how different is it being a military doc from a regular one?

 

[MusicDOc124]

I'm wondering if I should take the HPSP scholarships. I understand as a DO student a competitive specialty is tough so I'd be okay with something like internal medicine, neurology, or psych or EM. However, def not fam med. I'm neutral in terms of wanting to joint the military. Don't "love" it but don't "hate' it. Does it make financial sense to join? Also how easy is it to just do the commitment then go into the civilian sector?

If you don't love it, and you would not join the military without them paying for school, stay away. I will never make sense to join financially except in few cases such as FM, peds, and gen IM for the most part, and even, it basically just evens out and is virtually no different than being a civilian in some cases.

Say I took it, went through residency and then did my commitment. Is it easy to get back into the civilian sector? Also how different is it being a military doc from a regular one?

Yes for the most part. Different mostly in that what you may want to order for a patient in the military won't have as much red tape to cross as you won't have to deal with insurance companies. You order it, it gets done. Civilian side will have to deal with the insurance companies. Also different in that in the military you patients will generally be healthier and relatively younger (save for family/peds seeing families and kids on base) - this is due to the nature of the job, and once they retire, they have tricare/VA, etc and thus won't be seeing the active dity/reserve docs on bases.

 

[Isoval]

If you don't love it, and you would not join the military without them paying for school, stay away. I will never make sense to join financially except in few cases such as FM, peds, and gen IM for the most part, and even, it basically just evens out and is virtually no different than being a civilian in some cases.






Yes for the most part. Different mostly in that what you may want to order for a patient in the military won't have as much red tape to cross as you won't have to deal with insurance companies. You order it, it gets done. Civilian side will have to deal with the insurance companies. Also different in that in the military you patients will generally be healthier and relatively younger (save for family/peds seeing families and kids on base) - this is due to the nature of the job, and once they retire, they have tricare/VA, etc and thus won't be seeing the active dity/reserve docs on bases.

Hey @MusicDOc124, did you do HPSP? I may be bugging you very soon...I've been teetering on it, and I might still go for it as a second-year...

 

[medicinepassion1]

So if there is no red tape, and financials even out after a while for certain specialties, why should I only do it if I love it? Could I not learn to love it?

 

[MusicDOc124]

So if there is no red tape, and financials even out after a while for certain specialties, why should I only do it if I love it? Could I not learn to love it?

Do you know anything about military life?

Long hours, odd hours, duty, moving consistently, being stationed in the middle of nowhere, deploying and being away from friends and family for long periods of time, dangerous situations if deployed, strained relationships, if you have kids you'll be missing a lot of time with them.

It's difficult to learn to love. Even people who go in wanting to serve for the right reasons and having been from a military family where they understand as much as one can without doing it themselves yet sometimes end up going in and not liking it.

While life as a military physician is certainly different than that of someone enlisted, or even other officers, the above will still apply.

If you pick up rank, you may also end up in more administrative positions where you will practice less and less medicine - this is the case where it could affect you going back to civilian practice, but this is usually if you stay in for a little more than the minimum because it's often rank based.

The fact that you started out saying you dont love it or hate it and are inquiring about HPSP to cover your costs tells me that you're probably looking into it for the wrong reasons, and it will make you bitter. Not to mention, when I was in, you could tell who really didnt want to be there, and no one wanted to be around them.

It's a great gig for those who REALLY WANT to be in and who would join even without the school coverage, but if you wouldn't join without the scholarship, then its probably not for you.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Hey @MusicDOc124, did you do HPSP? I may be bugging you very soon...I've been teetering on it, and I might still go for it as a second-year...

No, I looked into and almost did it, but am using the VA to cover it instead. I served enlisted before med school.

My last roommate who already graduated used it/is currently serving - I was there for his commissioning and all from the start so became pretty familiar with it from comparing it to the VA benefits I already had and from meeting with recruiters, my roommate, etc.

If you have any questions, feel free - I'll try my best to answer and/or refer you in case there have been any updates to it in the last 1-2 years.

 

[Sardonix]

Do you know anything about military life?

Long hours, odd hours, duty, moving consistently, being stationed in the middle of nowhere, deploying and being away from friends and family for long periods of time, dangerous situations if deployed, strained relationships, if you have kids you'll be missing a lot of time with them.

It's difficult to learn to love. Even people who go in wanting to serve for the right reasons and having been from a military family where they understand as much as one can without doing it themselves yet sometimes end up going in and not liking it.

While life as a military physician is certainly different than that of someone enlisted, or even other officers, the above will still apply.

If you pick up rank, you may also end up in more administrative positions where you will practice less and less medicine - this is the case where it could affect you going back to civilian practice, but this is usually if you stay in for a little more than the minimum because it's often rank based.

The fact that you started out saying you dont love it or hate it and are inquiring about HPSP to cover your costs tells me that you're probably looking into it for the wrong reasons, and it will make you bitter. Not to mention, when I was in, you could tell who really didnt want to be there, and no one wanted to be around them.

It's a great gig for those who REALLY WANT to be in and who would join even without the school coverage, but if you wouldn't join without the scholarship, then its probably not for you.

Not military, but this is the best comment here.

Just one TEENY, TINY example of the inconvenience/sacrifice military medical students/future doctors deal with: you get no summer vacation after M1. And then the cherry on top, multiple of my classmates/friends had to take their boards EARLY (as in only 1-2weeks of dedicated study) in order to accommodate their M2 summer officer training. Once that wrapped up, right off to rotations for M3.

That alone was enough to tell me, someone who had been casually pondering HPSP, that I was not cut out.

 

[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I have nothing substantial to add; just trying to help perpetuate the message already being conveyed here based on my experience going through the application process to HPSP (I decided not to do it after being accepted) & talking to the people at my school in the program.

If you're doing it to pay for school, stop. Now. Big mistake. Only do it if you would join without the financial incentive.

The people at my school unfortunately do not have much time for boards (have probably 5 weeks less time than the rest of us) & do indeed lose their summers, as @Sardonix mentioned.

In addition to this, at least at my school (haven't asked anybody at other schools), they have lots of obligations during school too. In my schools' global schedule, we can all see the military track students' schedules too, & they put it lots of hours of required lectures outside of the normal school curriculum. It looks like it is really cool hands-on stuff, but it is time consuming.

 

[Medic741]

Add in preparing to meet height/weight PT standards WHILE studying for boards WITHOUT dedicated time AND no vacation (8 days barely counts) between boards > BOLC > rotations.

 

[medicinepassion1]

So BOLC is after year 2, is there anyway to take it early say year 1? Unless that's another training year. Also I don't have any major familial connections at the moment. Does deployment happen frequently for military docs, and would it be a one year thing or could you be deployed for all 4-8 years?

 

[MusicDOc124]

So BOLC is after year 2, is there anyway to take it early say year 1? Unless that's another training year. Also I don't have any major familial connections at the moment. Does deployment happen frequently for military docs, and would it be a one year thing or could you be deployed for all 4-8 years?

Going against the grain in the military is very difficult to do, so if BOLC is after year two, plan on going after year 2. There are other forms of training and requirements pre-planned for you at various times, such as after 1st year already depending on the branch. Scheduling can also mess with timing of your rotations and has the potential to conflict not only with taking boards but completing even your 3rd yr core rotations. You may end up doing a GMO tour which means you don't complete residency right away, but delay residency. Deployments rarely go over 1 year at a time for docs - though deployments are usually 6mo-1 year and when i deployed, our doc was there for the full year with us, and you can deploy multiple times. How long you go depends on the branch and unit you are attached to, which there is no way to tell until you get an assigned me as a GMO or match for residency/get orders when you're finishing residency. Aside from deployments which are usually 6-12 months, sometimes 3 in certain circumstances for certain physicians, you may be stationed abroad and no be allowed to bring any family with you (whether you're married, have kids, or not), or you could be stationed in a great place, or you could be in the middle of nowhere here in US. You don't get much of a choice where you go as a boot.

A lot of this info is searchable as well.

With that said, my .02 is that based on your statements and questions, HPSP may not be right for you, and you may have regrets doing it if you were to go through with it.

 

[rg2o3]

So if there is no red tape, and financials even out after a while for certain specialties, why should I only do it if I love it? Could I not learn to love it?

One does not simply learn to love the military.

 

[rg2o3]

Do you know anything about military life?

Long hours, odd hours, duty, moving consistently, being stationed in the middle of nowhere, deploying and being away from friends and family for long periods of time, dangerous situations if deployed, strained relationships, if you have kids you'll be missing a lot of time with them.

It's difficult to learn to love. Even people who go in wanting to serve for the right reasons and having been from a military family where they understand as much as one can without doing it themselves yet sometimes end up going in and not liking it.

While life as a military physician is certainly different than that of someone enlisted, or even other officers, the above will still apply.

If you pick up rank, you may also end up in more administrative positions where you will practice less and less medicine - this is the case where it could affect you going back to civilian practice, but this is usually if you stay in for a little more than the minimum because it's often rank based.

The fact that you started out saying you dont love it or hate it and are inquiring about HPSP to cover your costs tells me that you're probably looking into it for the wrong reasons, and it will make you bitter. Not to mention, when I was in, you could tell who really didnt want to be there, and no one wanted to be around them.

It's a great gig for those who REALLY WANT to be in and who would join even without the school coverage, but if you wouldn't join without the scholarship, then its probably not for you.

I second this. However, even the most motivated seemed worn down over time.

 

[rg2o3]

Going against the grain in the military is very difficult to do, so if BOLC is after year two, plan on going after year 2. There are other forms of training and requirements pre-planned for you at various times, such as after 1st year already depending on the branch. Scheduling can also mess with timing of your rotations and has the potential to conflict not only with taking boards but completing even your 3rd yr core rotations. You may end up doing a GMO tour which means you don't complete residency right away, but delay residency. Deployments rarely go over 1 year at a time for docs - though deployments are usually 6mo-1 year and when i deployed, our doc was there for the full year with us, and you can deploy multiple times. How long you go depends on the branch and unit you are attached to, which there is no way to tell until you get an assigned me as a GMO or match for residency/get orders when you're finishing residency. Aside from deployments which are usually 6-12 months, sometimes 3 in certain circumstances for certain physicians, you may be stationed abroad and no be allowed to bring any family with you (whether you're married, have kids, or not), or you could be stationed in a great place, or you could be in the middle of nowhere here in US. You don't get much of a choice where you go as a boot.

A lot of this info is searchable as well.

With that said, my .02 is that based on your statements and questions, HPSP may not be right for you, and you may have regrets doing it if you were to go through with it.

I would also like to mention that based on what unit you’re apart of. Especially as a GMO, you may spend significant time in the field as our doc did.