Timeline for HPSP dental student/dentist?

[#39]

I'm currently a rising 3rd Year (senior) undergrad who's looking into the HPSP scholarship for either the Navy or the Air Force. I've been researching HPSP for a while now and I've been looking through a lot of the threads on here about the positives, negatives, and lifestyle of life in the Navy/Air Force. I've been looking for a detailed breakdown for what to expect throughout my time in dental school, serving, and life afterwards but a lot of the information seems very old 5-10 years or deals mainly with HPSP physicians not dentists.

Could anyone give me a thorough breakdown of:
1. What to expect going through dental school, during the summers, & when exactly you go to officer training (I know the Navy/Air Force is out of your hair but any information helps).

2. How normal life is on base, how often you switch locations, get deployed, how life is onboard ships/deployed in general, headaches/struggles, effects on family life, did you specialize (how was it), etc.

3. If you've left how is it starting your own practice, would you go back to the military lifestyle, anything your time serving helped you prepare for/didn't help with?

4. Anything you wish you knew as an applicant of the program/before making the obligation or anything you wish you could go back and change?

5. Differences between Navy/Air Force? Besides no bonus, don't get deployed as often, harder to get into, and no ships?

Basically just looking for a year by year breakdown of what to expect throughout the process and afterwards as well as any extra insight into HPSP in general.

If any of these questions have been answered already:
1. Sorry for reasking
2. Could you please provide a link to the thread?

Thank you in advance!

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[#39]

Bump

 

[pinkster]

I'm currently a rising 3rd Year (senior) undergrad who's looking into the HPSP scholarship for either the Navy or the Air Force. I've been researching HPSP for a while now and I've been looking through a lot of the threads on here about the positives, negatives, and lifestyle of life in the Navy/Air Force. I've been looking for a detailed breakdown for what to expect throughout my time in dental school, serving, and life afterwards but a lot of the information seems very old 5-10 years or deals mainly with HPSP physicians not dentists.

Could anyone give me a thorough breakdown of:
1. What to expect going through dental school, during the summers, & when exactly you go to officer training (I know the Navy/Air Force is out of your hair but any information helps).

2. How normal life is on base, how often you switch locations, get deployed, how life is onboard ships/deployed in general, headaches/struggles, effects on family life, did you specialize (how was it), etc.

3. If you've left how is it starting your own practice, would you go back to the military lifestyle, anything your time serving helped you prepare for/didn't help with?

4. Anything you wish you knew as an applicant of the program/before making the obligation or anything you wish you could go back and change?

5. Differences between Navy/Air Force? Besides no bonus, don't get deployed as often, harder to get into, and no ships?

Basically just looking for a year by year breakdown of what to expect throughout the process and afterwards as well as any extra insight into HPSP in general.

If any of these questions have been answered already:
1. Sorry for reasking
2. Could you please provide a link to the thread?

Thank you in advance!

I can at least answer a couple of these.

1. People typically do officer training after you graduate, but if you have time the summer before dental school that is an option as well. Although I would think most people want that summer to relax/travel/party.

4. The process takes a long time. I was working full-time and I found it hard trying to find time to meet with my recruiter, get days off to sign papers/get a physical/and get commissioned. It seems like you are leaning Navy/Air Force. I know the AF has a phone interview and the Navy has an in person interview (someone can correct me if I am wrong).

5. It terms of "how hard is it to get a scholarship" the hardest is AF, then Navy, then Army. Each year it gets more and more competitive. They look at the whole applicant so make sure you have a wide range of extra curricular activities, get involved in sports/intramural sports, and do some volunteering.

I applied last year to the Army so I don't have all the lifestyle info you are looking for. Check out the "Ask an Air Force Dentist" and "Ask a Navy Dentist" at the top of the page. A lot of these questions are answered in terms of deployement, lifestyle, pay, differences, etc.