The skyrocketing value of the HPSP scholarship

[deuist]

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Show me a doctor who claims he has $1 million of net worth, and I'll show you a doctor who has $1 million worth of debt. Anyone can buy up tons of rental properties. Whether or not they payout or make you rich is a totally separate issue.

I keep seeing perspective students saying that they are looking forward to travel, adventure, and comradery as if only the military can supply those things. You do realize that as a medical doctor, you will command a high enough salary on the civilian side that you can travel whenever you want, right? I'm not sure what adventure you are referring to. I spent six months in a trailer in the desert splitting my time between going to the gym, going to the cafeteria, and surfing the web. As for friendship, you can make friends wherever you live. There is nothing special about the people that I worked with when I was on active duty.

 

[Re3iRtH]

deuist,
Not "anyone". The civilian doc who took out $250K in loans and spent 9 years (med school + residency) does not and cannot buy real estate during this time. Where will they get $50K to put down on a rental property? Because I started doing one of these deals as a junior resident, last year I did 3, this year I will use ~$200K on various partnerships and properties that will add $1000+ in net monthly income from this year alone. Not even talking about the 1.8 - 3.0X equity multiple exit. It takes time to get things compounded.
Similarly, to your other point, what civilian resident took 2-3 international trips a year as a resident? No, I am not talking about those with a silver spoon in their mouth funded by mommy and daddy.
Sure, as a staff you could do similar things depending on how your practice is set up, but most people aren't staff in a non-primary care specialty until they are 35+ .. apart from putting off the most vibrant years of your life (20s and early 30s), a lot folks are already thinking about kids at that point, and many civilian docs have a debt looming over their head.

Show me a doctor who claims he has $1 million of net worth, and I'll show you a doctor who has $1 million worth of debt. Anyone can buy up tons of rental properties. Whether or not they payout or make you rich is a totally separate issue.

I keep seeing perspective students saying that they are looking forward to travel, adventure, and comradery as if only the military can supply those things. You do realize that as a medical doctor, you will command a high enough salary on the civilian side that you can travel whenever you want, right? I'm not sure what adventure you are referring to. I spent six months in a trailer in the desert splitting my time between going to the gym, going to the cafeteria, and surfing the web. As for friendship, you can make friends wherever you live. There is nothing special about the people that I worked with when I was on active duty.

 

[Re3iRtH]

A7,
I got into stoicism while being a military physician, so I cannot say if I would have or wouldn't have if I went civilian.
Stoicism teaches you to look at things simply for what they are, and not be too reactive to small mudane things people generally place too much emphasis on. It also teaches you that you aren't better or more important than anyone else, at its core.
I think having this flexibility is useful when in the military, perhaps moreso than if one was civilian. The best thing the military does is that you just get a small increase in pay every 1-2 years, without the poverty of med school and residency and all of a sudden a 8-10X jump like on the civilian side. I think the military physician career pay scale is probably more accurately reflective of the true value you are providing. Not just going from a scutmonkey PGY-5 resident earning minimum wage to highly payed holier than thou attending.
In reality, your name is on the chart sure, but at least in my field, a senior resident and first year staff are identical in proficiency and skill (believe it or not).

 

[deleted707454]

I have to say that this story is the kind that motivates my desire to pursue HPSP and the military. Not necessarily the financial gain ($1m net worth, or portfolio of rental properties) but more so the travel, training, adventure, friendships, and other opportunities (no debt especially) that you mentioned. I am not sure whether or not the experiences you write about are indicative of a normal military experience, but I definitely would sign up if there was a good chance of experiencing them. Assuming that you are being completely honest with everything you wrote about (I am always a little skeptical), do you think that military (military med specifically) life offers any advantages over civilian life when trying to live a stoic lifestyle?

I joined under the expectation that I'll be at Fort Polk the entire time surrounded by right wing bigots for coworkers, doing nothing but administrative BS under the tutelage of a CO with a major inferiority complex, and constantly getting my hopes and dreams shunted for the greater good of the big green weenie. That being said, anything better than that will come as a pleasant surprise and a bonus to what I envisioned would be a crappy (albeit debt free) experience.

No I actually joined up because I'm pursuing an Airline Transport Pilot certificate (both fixed wing and helo) alongside my medical education, and the financial package is the only way I can do that without going into crazy debt. Private school tuition be damned.

 

[A7x1]

I joined under the expectation that I'll be at Fort Polk the entire time surrounded by right wing bigots for coworkers, doing nothing but administrative BS under the tutelage of a CO with a major inferiority complex, and constantly getting my hopes and dreams shunted for the greater good of the big green weenie. That being said, anything better than that will come as a pleasant surprise and a bonus to what I envisioned would be a crappy (albeit debt free) experience.

No I actually joined up because I'm pursuing an Airline Transport Pilot certificate (both fixed wing and helo) alongside my medical education, and the financial package is the only way I can do that without going into crazy debt. Private school tuition be damned.

LOL LR. If I decide to pursue HPSP, I will go in with those kinds of expectations after reading the stories on this forum. I actually am grateful to everyone on this forum who shares their experiences so that people do not go into the military with unrealistic expectations.

 

[The Physician Philosopher]

Agreed. It is suprising to me how many people are shocked when they find out the real committent they have made. Seems like that should be very clear up front.

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[Gastrapathy]

PGY5 surgical residents aren't scut monkeys in civilian programs. They live in the OR.