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The 2026-2027 MD School Specific Threads are now live in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 cycle threads can be found here. -
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VA HPSP
Started by globaldoc27
I'm planning to apply once I get an A. 🫠
Also applying for mil HPSP but a strong chance that I won't be medically qualified.
Also applying for mil HPSP but a strong chance that I won't be medically qualified.
What branch were you thinking of applying to for the military HPSP? I'm considering it too, but concerned about some of things I've read.
Navy. I'm interested in a few of the things people list as downsides, such as doing a GMO tour etc.
A lot of people will push Air Force for QOL, but honestly it took me 3 months to even get in contact with a recruiter and they had me go through like 15 steps before I could even talk to him. Once he heard I had medical history because duh I'm 30 of course I was diagnosed with something over my lifetime, he basically ghosted me.
Army you will possibly have a lower QOL, more time deployed/in the field, but you train straight through most frequently and have the most/best military residency options. You're not generally allowed to apply to civilian match.
I'd suggest talking to recruiters from the main branches that interest you to learn more about the specifics but overall as a doctor your day to day will prob be similar enough once you get past differences in training.
Thinking about it. It would get me to 20 years federal with buy back, and I would retain more control over life elements (more important to me now with a family). I’ll likely end up going Reserves to finish out my career… still trying to map out what’s best. Feel free to DM if you want to know more about the Active Army side.
Does anyone know if 3/31 is a hard stop deadline?
In theory if your packet was accepted before then it would be considered for a summer/fall 2024 start date but I feel like with everything said in this thread chances are even though my packet was accepted before then it won’t matter 😅. They do state it’s a year round process but I’m not sure what to make of that now!
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I haven't heard anything back yet. My application packed was approved on March 14.
Are they usually this bad at communication? I feel like they don't respond to emails very fast or it's either very vague.
Mine was approved March 1 and still haven’t heard anything yet.
The waiting is making me so anxious
I applied on 3/26. No change in application status yet.
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Okay. Thanks. I just applied on 3/26 so I don't know what is gonna happen, honestly.
Yes. It looks like they are not extending the deadline for any reason. They must have gotten an unusual amount of applicants.
Have you heard anything?
Have you heard back yet?
Yea it seems like they are pretty backed up. I emailed from my VA email address and I still got a canned response that they do not have an ETA on when applications are getting reviewed. However, it seems that depends on the healthcare field because a lot of nurses have gotten their emails.
I’m applied for DO scholarship. I wonder how many applicants they had.
Not sure, you can try to email and find out. They probably won't answer though.
Same! I'm in limbo.
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I emailed them and they said all offers for fall 2024 have been sent.
That's great. I don't even think they reviewed my application.
Well, I emailed them after you posted and they said they have not yet made that conclusion. I applied for pharmacy.
All they said was "funds are completed for 2024"
Federal year restarts in October so try again next time I guess y'all! 🙁
So just to confirm, the HPSP program is closed for this upcoming fall? I submitted end of March
I have heard that for certain career paths it is but for my application they never even reviewed it. When I asked them if it was closed they said they did not yet have that information.... So I'm not sure what is going on.
Yamaan Khan
New Member
I’ve had the same experience. I’ve emailed a couple times and they’ve said that my application is still being considered until they email me with a decision
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Yes. That is what I was trying to decipher. Whether we were still being considered at all. Which is important, because I didn't want to reapply if I didn't have to. My application still says submitted, but I finally got word that if your application is still in process you have to wait until October. That, in my opinion, is good news.
Anyone else see any movement in their application? They just sent mine back for corrections.
I know OP posted this earlier this year, but I'm gonna put this here anyway for future applicants. I'm glad that VA HPSP is gaining popularity. Service commitment is similar to its military counterpart which is 1:1.5. This translates to 4 years of medical school to 6 years of VA service. When this scholarship was initially offered, you can defer your service commitment until after fellowship training. (I don't know if that's still the case, check with your recruiter).
Pros:
1. The obvious, full tuition, including a flat rate of ~1200 to ~1300 monthly stipend, and book allowance. Yes, I said flat rate, this does NOT vary by location, unlike military HPSP. So for you applicants in CA and NY, you might have to apply for additional loans for housing.
2. You are not a part of the military. You are funded by the VA. This means, no future military deployments and GMO tours (depending on which branch). This also means that you take part in civilian match residency matching, which has significantly more available spots and geographic locations than military residency programs.
3. The scholarship pays for housing expenses during away rotations done at a VA facility ONLY (during M4), USMLE testing fees, and residency application fees (which could be a lot).
4. Going back to finances again, you will not accumulate debt. A lot of applicants overlook the fact that medical school can put you in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
5. You will be working with a very special population, our veterans.
6. You will have more control of where you end up working as an attending, unlike with the traditional military HPSP.
Cons:
1. You will not be able to pursue a pediatric specialty, unless of course you do a combined residency like Med-Peds or Combined Adult/Child and Adolescent psychiatry.
2. You will not reap the same benefits as a military HPSP recipient. That means no BAH and healthcare coverage. The VA HPSP, unlike Military HPSP will not cover healthcare insurance, which could be pretty expensive. You do, however, have the opportunity to apply for a VA healthcare insurance, which would allow you to receive care at the nearest VA facility and experience the care that most veterans receive.
3. The VA HPSP contract requires you to do 2 away rotations at a VA facility. This is not the same as applying for any other aways through VSLO (the platform medical students use to apply for aways). You would need to contact program directors directly to initiate a conversation regarding away rotations. The limiting factor is that the scholarship administrators are not allowed to endorse or help you get VA away rotations. In addition, they do not give you a list of Med-Ed liaison, you have to figure that out yourself. To give you another perspective, as a Med-Ed liaison, you get an email from a random medical student who is requesting a rotation to satisfy a requirement for a scholarship you have never heard of, and no scholarship administrators to back-up that request. It reflects poorly on both the student and the scholarship administrators.
4. When or if you rotate at VA facilities during 3rd and 4th years, you will find out that their EMR can be a bit of a headache. I'll leave it at that.
5. The pay discrepancy as an attending. The physician pay is capped annually. You cannot make more than the POTUS, bonus included. If you are in-pursuit of a lucrative specialty that means hundreds of thousands to possible millions of dollars missed during the first 6 years of working as an attending. However, at the moment that I am typing this, a Bipartisan bill: VA CAREERS Act of 2023 has been (and is still) "Introduced." We'll see how that goes (insert sarcastic emoji here).
I hope this post helps. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me.
Also, if you're a veteran and you have exhausted your Post 9/11 GI Bill, Voc-Rehab should also cover for medical school. Cheers!
D
deleted1151110
Thank you for this write-up. It was super detailed and I bet will help a lot of students for years to come. This part of the VA HPSP process seems to be the most problematic to me. Is there anything a student can do to increase their chances of getting these 2 away rotations more easily? Perhaps by reaching out to Med-Ed liasons from earlier on (second or third year)? What are the best ways students could go about this? Thanks
Reach out to the Med-Ed liaison at the VA facility associated with your medical school. Majority of the time, they are more than happy to help or start an introduction for you.
It's possible to maybe get covered by Voc-Rehab (although if Post 9/11 is exhausted then monthly stipend reimbursement is limited) but it's not a guarantee and it's certainly not as straightforward as applying for the GI Bill. Anyone considering this should come to the Veteran benefits forum for more specifics. Ideally, also save some Post 9/11 bill prior to medical school or better yet, get into Voc Rehab in undergrad with physician as your final employment.
I was in the same boat and they finally rejected me before summer :/ wondering if I can reapply
