Two Different Approaches

[musashi]

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I was wondering if anyone on the military forum can help answer my question. For most that go the military route, they are first accepted in to medical school of their choice and then they apply for the scholarship, which pays for 100% of school plus a monthly stipend. Then it’s off to residency and then you pay back your obligation of x many years. What if one is accepted to medical school, attends said school on their own and borrows the entire 4 years on loans etc. applies to and completes residency as a civilian and graduates with at least 200k + in debt? Next, this now board certified physician knocks on uncle sam’s door and says hi, I’m Dr. X and want to come on active duty and am curious what you can offer me in terms of debt repayment.

I was at the library the other day and was talking with a premed guy who is going the military route and he told me that the military actually prefers the person who does the second option (stated above). So, my main question is for the second option will the military even be interested in said individual? Basically, an attending type status physician initiating a dialogue with the military for a debt repayment type of deal. Now, what if the individual who just graduated medical school and before applying/entering residency knock on uncle sam’s door and says hi I just graduated medical school, have not been to a residency and am curious what type of repayment options there are for me? Btw, can this scenario also work with reservists or is it active duty for the entire payback?

 

[psychbender]

Some of what you describe is covered by the FAP, which you enter into before you start a civilian residency or while you are a civilian resident. See the link below for a discussion about the program.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=189443

http://www.financephysician.com/200...-the-health-professional-scholarship-program/
This is another good link discussing the three main pathways to becoming a military doctor.

I'm fairly certain there is a way to directly enter milmed after completing a residency, I just do not know any specifics of that program.

I was wondering if anyone on the military forum can help answer my question. For most that go the military route, they are first accepted in to medical school of their choice and then they apply for the scholarship, which pays for 100% of school plus a monthly stipend. Then it’s off to residency and then you pay back your obligation of x many years. What if one is accepted to medical school, attends said school on their own and borrows the entire 4 years on loans etc. applies to and completes residency as a civilian and graduates with at least 200k + in debt? Next, this now board certified physician knocks on uncle sam’s door and says hi, I’m Dr. X and want to come on active duty and am curious what you can offer me in terms of debt repayment.

I was at the library the other day and was talking with a premed guy who is going the military route and he told me that the military actually prefers the person who does the second option (stated above). So, my main question is for the second option will the military even be interested in said individual? Basically, an attending type status physician initiating a dialogue with the military for a debt repayment type of deal. Now, what if the individual who just graduated medical school and before applying/entering residency knock on uncle sam’s door and says hi I just graduated medical school, have not been to a residency and am curious what type of repayment options there are for me? Btw, can this scenario also work with reservists or is it active duty for the entire payback?

 

[trail doc]

You can do reserve, but you can't get near the amount of money as you can for an active duty obligation.
There are two programs, HPSP for med students, FAP for residents, and HPLRP for those residency complete. The potential financial benefits seem to decrease in that order, but the control that you have over your career increases. Do a search on this website as HPSP vs. FAP have been discussed at length.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

It turns out that once people are residency trained and realize what they can make as a civilian doc, that very few decide to join the military, and most of those who do can't make it on the outside. Check out Galo's thread where he posted the recruiting numbers for AF surgeons. They had like 8 apply as attending-level physicians and none were really hireable.

 

[NavyFP]

I was wondering if anyone on the military forum can help answer my question. For most that go the military route, they are first accepted in to medical school of their choice and then they apply for the scholarship, which pays for 100% of school plus a monthly stipend. Then it’s off to residency and then you pay back your obligation of x many years. What if one is accepted to medical school, attends said school on their own and borrows the entire 4 years on loans etc. applies to and completes residency as a civilian and graduates with at least 200k + in debt? Next, this now board certified physician knocks on uncle sam’s door and says hi, I’m Dr. X and want to come on active duty and am curious what you can offer me in terms of debt repayment.

I was at the library the other day and was talking with a premed guy who is going the military route and he told me that the military actually prefers the person who does the second option (stated above). So, my main question is for the second option will the military even be interested in said individual? Basically, an attending type status physician initiating a dialogue with the military for a debt repayment type of deal. Now, what if the individual who just graduated medical school and before applying/entering residency knock on uncle sam’s door and says hi I just graduated medical school, have not been to a residency and am curious what type of repayment options there are for me? Btw, can this scenario also work with reservists or is it active duty for the entire payback?

For a Board Certified Doc seeking active duty, there are 2 options. This is assuming that the military actually wants a Physician of said category. There are some categories the military isn't actually looking to recruit. Pathology, OB, and Peds are not being actively recruited at this time.

1) Direct Accession Bonus. All three services are offering between $170K and $350K to enter into the service. FP and IM are in the $170K range and Ortho/Anes are in the $300-$350K range. These bonuses are paid out over 4 years and come with a 4 year obligation.

2) Health Professions Loan Repayment Program (HPLRP), This program will pay off qualified student loans aquired while obtaining your medical degree. It pays $38K+ per year and has a year for year obligation. Since there is a minimum service obligation with any military contract, you would take either 3 or 4 years of loan repayment.

You could ask for both, but the paybacks would be consecutive (added).