VA HPSP (Physician)

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B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3

B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3

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Figured this is the best place to put this. This scholarship is available on USAJOBS, pretty much works like the military HPSP but with the VA. To search on usajobs, just type "scholarship" in the search box and it should come up. I think there are scholarships available for pharmacy and dental students also. P.S I am not a recruiter, I am a med student at OUWB in Michigan and I figured this could help someone out.
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B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3 said:
Figured this is the best place to put this. This scholarship is available on USAJOBS, pretty much works like the military HPSP but with the VA. To search on usajobs, just type "scholarship" in the search box and it should come up. I think there are scholarships available for pharmacy and dental students also. P.S I am not a recruiter, I am a med student at OUWB in Michigan and I figured this could help someone out.
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Are you currently on the scholarship?
 
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B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3 said:
Figured this is the best place to put this. This scholarship is available on USAJOBS, pretty much works like the military HPSP but with the VA. To search on usajobs, just type "scholarship" in the search box and it should come up. I think there are scholarships available for pharmacy and dental students also. P.S I am not a recruiter, I am a med student at OUWB in Michigan and I figured this could help someone out.
[/QUOTE

Thanks for sharing!
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Just got my application forwarded to the selection committee, put it in on march 13th. Ill let you guys know how it goes, I was told if you are a disabled vet like me you have an extremely high chance of getting it.

One of the managers told me he doesnt think they will get enough applicants for the 50 scholarships this year. If anyone has any questions about the VA i ca. try to answer from first hand experience.

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Strick09 said:
Just got my application forwarded to the selection committee, put it in on march 13th. Ill let you guys know how it goes, I was told if you are a disabled vet like me you have an extremely high chance of getting it.

One of the managers told me he doesnt think they will get enough applicants for the 50 scholarships this year. If anyone has any questions about the VA i ca. try to answer from first hand experience.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile
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How does the VA staff Primary Care? Is it staffed with family medicine physicians, PAs/NPs, or a mix of both (if so, what ratios?)? It seems that the VA overcomes a lot of the factors of burnout for primary care (easier documentation, better hours, and resources to overcome socioeconomic barriers to compliance); would you say this is true based on your experience?
 
Philadelphia2207 said:
How does the VA staff Primary Care? Is it staffed with family medicine physicians, PAs/NPs, or a mix of both (if so, what ratios?)? It seems that the VA overcomes a lot of the factors of burnout for primary care (easier documentation, better hours, and resources to overcome socioeconomic barriers to compliance); would you say this is true based on your experience?
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My VA PCP is a physician. Due to moving a few times, I've had 5 different PCPs with the VA. 4 of them were physicians. 1 was an NP.
 
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Philadelphia2207 said:
How does the VA staff Primary Care? Is it staffed with family medicine physicians, PAs/NPs, or a mix of both (if so, what ratios?)? It seems that the VA overcomes a lot of the factors of burnout for primary care (easier documentation, better hours, and resources to overcome socioeconomic barriers to compliance); would you say this is true based on your experience?
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Ive never had a NP or PA only physicians. This is likely due to many of the requirements for documentation for disability. Though that is only available hurestics, the only PA i have ever talked to was in psych.


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I just sent my application today. I didn’t realize that scholarship existed until I randomly looked up the VA’s scholarship opportunities. I’m not a veteran, but it has been my dream to be a VA doc since my days working as a home health CNA through the VA.
 
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Dr. Funkenstein said:
I just sent my application today. I didn’t realize that scholarship existed until I randomly looked up the VA’s scholarship opportunities. I’m not a veteran, but it has been my dream to be a VA doc since my days working as a home health CNA through the VA.
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Nice! I'm at Campbell for the incoming class too (checked out your past messages), and applied last week. Have you joined our Facebook group? We have a few military (Army and Navy) HPSP scholars in our class.
 
Strick09 said:
Just got my application forwarded to the selection committee, put it in on march 13th. Ill let you guys know how it goes, I was told if you are a disabled vet like me you have an extremely high chance of getting it.

One of the managers told me he doesnt think they will get enough applicants for the 50 scholarships this year. If anyone has any questions about the VA i ca. try to answer from first hand experience.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
Have you heard anything yet?
 
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Hey guys. Even before I found out about this scholarship I was interested in working for the VA. I am considering applying but I'm worried about being stuck somewhere I hate for 6 years (although I'm pretty open, wouldn't mind a rural town near the mountains but at least need some mountains lol) and how relocation could affect my relationships/family. Does anyone know how we can get a better idea of what our job outlook would be like? I'm interested in internal med or ophthalmology and fiddled around with the USAJobs site where we would apparently be looking for jobs near the end of residency, but it is very difficult to figure out which positions qualify as "difficult to recruit and retain."

Also wondering if a safer route is to just plan to apply to VA positions that qualify for the Education Debt Reduction Program after residency and get 200k paid off by the VA over 5 years. Less debt paid off but less permanent commitment. My COA for school is 294k and my debt at graduation will probably be 220k pre-interest.

Any advice is welcome! A little nervy about signing up for something that will affect my life 14 years from now
 
Hi everyone. I was accepted into the program and have some info. Stipends are $1142/month plus a once a year additional $1142 for books and supplies. For the relocation, they mentioned on a phone call that you work with their recruitment office to find a location that suits you. There is more openings available to scholarship recipients than are on USAJobs. You do have some say but again they place you where you are needed.
 
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MDWander said:
Hi everyone. I was accepted into the program and have some info. Stipends are $1142/month plus a once a year additional $1142 for books and supplies. For the relocation, they mentioned on a phone call that you work with their recruitment office to find a location that suits you. There is more openings available to scholarship recipients than are on USAJobs. You do have some say but again they place you where you are needed.
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Congratulations!! That is awesome! Did they call to let you know you received it or was this phone call after you have already accepted? Good to know that there are more positions open than on USAjobs. None of those are places I want to be haha. Do you mind sharing your stats like year in school, GPA, are you a vet, any VA experience, and also the timeline from when you submitted, were referred, and received offer?
 
Ken313627 said:
Congratulations!! That is awesome! Did they call to let you know you received it or was this phone call after you have already accepted? Good to know that there are more positions open than on USAjobs. None of those are places I want to be haha. Do you mind sharing your stats like year in school, GPA, are you a vet, any VA experience, and also the timeline from when you submitted, were referred, and received offer?
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Thanks. The timeline goes that I submitted in early April, then a week and a half later I was forwarded to the selection committee and then a few days after that I got the offer via email. The call I was referencing was a conference call they hosted for awardees/earlier applicants that have already submitted I believe (just kind of went through a few details and had a Q&A). For my stats I had a 3.89 GPA in undergrad (my school is P/F), just finished my first year and awarded for the last 3, I am not a vet, and do not have any VA experience. Also I am happy to answer any other questions people have; this is the first year they are doing this for physicians and I found next to nothing about this online when I applied.
 
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I'm very interested in applying for this, but I also noticed that there are multiple pieces that seem to require working with my school for. I haven't actually committed to a school yet (sitting on a waitlist for state school), so would it still be possible to apply? Or should I just wait to try next year when I do have my school to work with? Is there a specific number I should call to discuss this with a recruiter or something?
 
silent.planet said:
I'm very interested in applying for this, but I also noticed that there are multiple pieces that seem to require working with my school for. I haven't actually committed to a school yet (sitting on a waitlist for state school), so would it still be possible to apply? Or should I just wait to try next year when I do have my school to work with? Is there a specific number I should call to discuss this with a recruiter or something?
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You will want to talk to Scott Dixon ([email protected]) and see what he has to say. From the stuff I was reading, it seemed you needed to be unconditionally accepted into a program to be considered. Since it didn't apply to me, I wasn't diving into those details so there may be something that Scott can tell you to help you out.
 
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How does the stipend affect the schools aid for living expenses? Let’s say that when you add the budgeted items for housing, food, transportation, personal needs, etc, it works out to be $2000/mo that would have been paid by loans. If this program gives a stipend of $1100, what about the rest ? Do you still get living expenses from the school?
 
Endee said:
How does the stipend affect the schools aid for living expenses? Let’s say that when you add the budgeted items for housing, food, transportation, personal needs, etc, it works out to be $2000/mo that would have been paid by loans. If this program gives a stipend of $1100, what about the rest ? Do you still get living expenses from the school?
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I dont really know how each school would handle it and your financial aid office would probably be able to help you
 
Congratulations to you both! Awesome news! I am an alternate as of now. Hoping I will get awarded eventually!
 
On the physician aspirations questions I talked about an interest in both primary and critical care and related that to my clinical experiences.
 
Does anyone know if there are awards still available? Ive been held up by clerkships and I want to submit this week. Fingers crossed!
 
premeddreamer07 said:
Does anyone know if there are awards still available? Ive been held up by clerkships and I want to submit this week. Fingers crossed!
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Unfortunately I think there are no more available right now. I applied a bit late and have been placed on the alternate list and they said I may hear back in October/November for an award beginning in the spring semester


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Anyone worried regarding the consequences if you don’t complete the terms of the scholarship? It says you would have to pay back 3x what they paid you including interest, and have to do it all in a year or else it counts as a default of federal debt. So if they pay $70k you have to pay back $230k (post-tax) in one year, which seems impossible unless you’re an orthopod or something. Defaults can result in a loss of licensure in some states and inability to ever pay back debt.

Am I overreacting? What if I get fired during the 2 year federal probationary period? I don’t think you get a second chance at the VA if you get into an argument with the wrong person or something.
 
I was selected awhile back, however the communication has been less than stellar. Last thing I received from Scott was asking about book costs, and have not received any reply with a question about when the award is supposed to begin (when our semester starts for medical school vs when the main campus begins). Has anyone heard back from Mrs. Ostrander regarding background checks? It was initiated like three months ago and still no word.
 
Campb443 said:
I was selected awhile back, however the communication has been less than stellar. Last thing I received from Scott was asking about book costs, and have not received any reply with a question about when the award is supposed to begin (when our semester starts for medical school vs when the main campus begins). Has anyone heard back from Mrs. Ostrander regarding background checks? It was initiated like three months ago and still no word.
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My partner works in coordination with the VA through their residency program. From their perspective (and experience with background checks), it seems that no news is generally good news regarding the background check (assume that no communications = no issues).

Re financial dispersement: the Academic Verification form for our application indicated our school start dates. Based on the phone conversation, it sounds like our medical schools are establishing accounts with, and billing the funds directly to, the VA for tuition. I was told that this funding would never show up on my financial aid statement; my bill would simply read $0.

The stipend and book money timeline seems to be less definitive (albeit aimed to correlate with our first day of class), from what I can tell.
 
Has anyone’s school received funding for the semester yet? Had to take out loans to cover it for now.
 
For anyone provided the post-October 1st deadline for a final decision, did you get the impression this was essentially a "selection" but postponed for next fiscal year funding?
 
Campb443 said:
Has anyone’s school received funding for the semester yet? Had to take out loans to cover it for now.
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I emailed my contact person at the VA last week to discuss this; he said that my funding "was approved in May and ready/available" for when my school follows protocol and bills for tuition/fees. Not certain if this is universal for all HPSP recipients, and definitely questioning how the protocol is being followed by financial aid at my school right now. My financial aid contact is on vacation until Monday :rolleyes:, so I'll wait until then to update with more info on how long that process takes.
 
did anyone get any updates on the background investigation process after the eqip application was complete? I know no news is good news but does no news delay funding?
 
For the application process did you have to use ID.me verification to set up an account? To verify identity, it requires photo id and SS#.
 
Has anyone still not received their January stipend?
 
Just submitted the VA-HPSP today; fingers and toes crossed. Would love to start my career with the VA after residency. Will be starting medical school at ATSU-SOMA in July.
 
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Can you guys elaborate on some of the fine print that you discussed earlier?
I.e.
- Will the VA HPSP program force you into specific residencies or are they legit when they say the only residency you cannot pursue is peds?
- Are you all still having issues with the timing of funding and lack of communication? I’d be beyond frustrated if I had to take out loans to cover what the scholarship said they’d cover.
- I know the other HPSP awards sometimes force you to do a residency within the military which adds extra years to your obligation (which the recruiters try not to tell you) or they shuffle you into a flight surgery program for a few years, delaying your residency. Do either of these things happen with the VA HPSP? Or do you enter the normal match system with non-military students, then compete your obligation afterwards?

I know that was a lot- those are my reservations about the program otherwise I’d be filling out my application as we speak! Thanks!
 
1. You can literally do any residency and any fellowship except peds. If you become very sub-specialized expect that you will need to be around a fairly large city. If you go into primary care, I was told there’s positions almost everywhere.
2. funding and communication has been fine for me during the first 6 months of having the scholarship. There are some annoying and confusing forms but it’s the government and that’s par for the course. Now that I’m part of the program I get very quick email responses.
3. You apply in the normal civilian match and can go to any program in any field you want (again, except peds). There are no summer requirements like the military HPSP

honestly I waffled around a lot and was worried about committing to an untested program and now I could not be happier with my decision. Especially if you will be attending an expensive school, your classmates are sinking into debt daily while you are not. If you feel like you would enjoy working at the VA, it’s a great opportunity. One big draw for me was the fact that the VA generally provides you with more time per patient. One word of caution: if you’re wanting to go into an uber competitive super high paying field, VA salaries top out at 400k, so your ROI might be better outside the VA.

i hope this helps and good luck with your decision!!
 
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Strick09 said:
Just got my application forwarded to the selection committee, put it in on march 13th. Ill let you guys know how it goes, I was told if you are a disabled vet like me you have an extremely high chance of getting it.

One of the managers told me he doesnt think they will get enough applicants for the 50 scholarships this year. If anyone has any questions about the VA i ca. try to answer from first hand experience.

Sent from my SM-N960U using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
I applied for the starting cycle of 2021; I am also a disabled veteran. If you don't mind, could you let me know if you received the scholarship and if you remember the timeline from once you submitted the package?
 
Has anyone been selected for this years cycle yet? My status on the ams website was changed to “offer pending” instead of complete. Has anyone else received that
 
Fassler said:
Has anyone been selected for this years cycle yet? My status on the ams website was changed to “offer pending” instead of complete. Has anyone else received that
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When did you notice the change and how long ago did you submit your app? I submitted my application packet on 1/28/2021; status is still showing "Application Submitted." Mr. Dixon said that I would hear something in 30 to 60 days; is this par for the course?
 
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I submitted on january 19th. it changed to offer pending on february 10th or 11th.
 
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Fassler said:
I submitted on january 19th. it changed to offer pending on february 10th or 11th.
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update: offered and Accepted the award today feb 17th. Good luck to everyone this cycle
 
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Sorry if this is a dumb question but after the required years working for the VA, how hard is it to transition/get a job at a normal hospital?
 
You guys that got accepted -- when you wrote your applications, did you get straight to the point (and write essays well under the character limits) or did you dress up your essays in stories like applying to general med school? Seems like the VA might prefer me get straight to the point (especially since activity and work experience sections limit descriptions to 20-30 characters), instead of detailing heartfelt patient interactions and life experiences that drove my aspirations of becoming a VA physician. Would love to hear how you all approached it. Thanks!
 
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