Military Families
bobbyme
member
Military Option for medical school?
bobbyme
member
Has anyone, or anyone's DH, done this? I am looking for some advice.
My husband will be starting medical school next year and is looking at a military option for paying. He has been talking with recruiters from the Army and Air Force. He would have to be accepted to the program, and then do basic every summer, and then pay back time as a doctor in whichever branch he is in after school/residency are done. I don't know anyone who has done this, but if you do, I could use all the insight I could get. Also, what are the main differences between each branch: i.e., Navy, Air Force, Army? If you have any help that would be great! Thanks in advance!
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Re: Military Option for medical school?
I'm not familiar with the medical school program through the military at all but I did want to say this: Your husband should NOT be joining just because of the schooling and financial benefits. The military is a lifestyle not simply a career and everyone in the family needs to be on board with this lifestyle. You both should remember that he could be facing deployments, extended training, etc.
I don't want to scare you away from it because it can be very rewarding but make sure he's entering into the military for the right reasons. Good luck to you.
Thank you! We are on board as a family and in agreement to this decision.
I am somewhat familiar with deployment, extended training, etc as I have friends in the military, and my grandfather was a Navy pilot and my other grandfather served in the Air Force...but you are right, I have never experienced it personally. Right now I am looking for any advice or perspective from others that I am not close too, as that advice can be most frank (and no one I know has done the medical school option, so I am mainly looking for advice and opinions on that). And, I suppose I also misspoke. He is not looking into it simply for schooling and medical benefits. He loves his country and has wanted to serve since he was a kid, and his career goal is medicine. He sees these prgrams as a way to fulfill both.
vegan mama, military wife
Thank you! We are on board as a family and in agreement to this decision.
I am somewhat familiar with deployment, extended training, etc as I have friends in the military, and my grandfather was a career Navy pilot and my other grandfather served in the Air Force...but you are right, I have never experienced it personally. Right now I am looking for any advice or perspective from others that I am not close too, as that advice can be most frank (and no one I know has done the medical school option, so I am mainly looking for advice and opinions on that). And, I suppose I also misspoke. He is not looking into it simply for schooling and medical benefits. He loves his country and has wanted to serve since he was a kid, and his career goal is medicine. He sees these programs as a way to fulfill both, and not having a ton of loans is also beneficial to our family.
vegan mama, military wife
Thank you! We are on board as a family and in agreement to this decision.
I am somewhat familiar with deployment, extended training, etc as I have friends in the military, and my grandfather was a Navy pilot and my other grandfather served in the Air Force...but you are right, I have never experienced it personally. Right now I am looking for any advice or perspective from others that I am not close too, as that advice can be most frank (and no one I know has done the medical school option, so I am mainly looking for advice and opinions on that). And, I suppose I also misspoke. He is not looking into it simply for schooling and medical benefits. He loves his country and has wanted to serve since he was a kid, and his career goal is medicine. He sees these programs as a way to fulfill both, and not having a ton of loans is also beneficial to our family.
vegan mama, military wife
vegan mama, military wife
I'm glad you realize all the anecdotes in the world don't give you the idea of deployment until you've experienced it. My husband just finished his second deployment a few weeks ago; I thought it was going to be a cake walk since we were together for his last deployment...not the case at all. Every deployment, training, etc is different.
My best advice would be for you to go with your husband to meet all the recruits from every branch. Write down everything they tell you. Anything they promise you, get it in writing. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
Stick around on the board as well and get a feel for what military spouses deal with daily.
Have him look up the HPSP scholarship program. My H went to USUHS (the military's medical school) but had he chosen to go to a civilian school he would have applied for HPSP.
Be forewarned, your H will owe quite a few years to whichever branch he chooses for going this route, and he will be spending several summers doing military training in order to commission as an officer when he graduates. That said, military life is something I've come to enjoy, and it's given both my husband and myself some wonderful opportunities through the Medical Corps.
vegan mama, military wife
vegan mama, military wife
I'm not sure how many years he'll owe for medical school. My H owes two years for every year of school, but like I said he went to USUHS and drew a full 2nd Lt.'s salary while he was a student. As far as residency goes, those aren't years you "pay back," but they also don't count towards the time you owe. At least that's the policy if you do your residency at an MTF--I can't say with any certainty that it's the same if you go through a civilian program.
My H is at the hospital right now, but I'll ask him if he knows more specifics about HPSP when he gets home unless someone else with more specific knowledge of the program has responded already.
vegan mama, military wife
Okay, according to H, under the HPSP program you can apply for 2, 3, or 4 year scholarships. You owe one year to the military for every year you receive the scholarship, and those years of service don't start until after your residency ends. BUT, if your residency is longer than the number of years you received money, you owe the number of residency years rather than just the number of scholarship years. So, if you went into, say, Internal Medicine (a 3 year residency) you'd owe three years once you were a fully licensed and board-certified or eligible physician if you got a 2 or 3 year scholarship, or 4 years if you got money for 4 years. If you went into Surgery, however, you'd owe 6 years regardless of how many years you received funds.
It's a little confusing, but it's the route many, many physicians take in the military, and like I said the Medical Corps has been very good to us. Please let me know if you have any other questions I may be able to answer.
I really appreciate your help. I will have more questions, no doubt, very shortly, so we will be in touch! Again, thank you! It helps to have someone who has some knowledge so we are not completely relying on the recruiters. It's all new for us...
vegan mama, military wife
DH did the HPSP Program through the Army for Med School. He's now a little over 1/2 way done his Ortho Surgery Residency and then will owe 4 years as staff back to the Army (possibly 6 if he decides to do fellowship while active duty).
Very basic run down:
Perks: no loans for med school which usually run 240k+ by the end of med school, a stipend (very small though- there is no way he could have paid rent and lived on the stipend alone during school- luckily, he had me
, DH feels like it really allows him to do something important for his country, and being in Ortho he sees a lot and is lucky enough to be in a Level 1 Trauma Hospital. Very competitive residency program (for his specialty at least), once your a resident you are getting paid more than your civilian residents friends due to housing allowance, healthcare, etc, depending on your specialty great research opps (the military really is a leader in medical research), If you are army, your a 2LT during med school, a CPT during residency, and then MAJ once you are staff, and will move up depending on how long you stay in.
Cons: Once your staff you get paid MUCH less than your civilian counterparts especially if you are in a more competitive specialty., military red tape can be frustrating at times, fellowship is a 2 for one deal (fellowship is only a year, but you end up owing 2 extra years), the program locations are not as great as civilian programs (ie El Paso vs say Boston or NYC) so if your DH is not a competitive applicant when he finishes residency he could get stuck in a crappy location or not matching and being transitional until he matches the next year.
You can PM me if you have more questions if you'd like. This is only speaking for the Army HPSP program though, we didn't look into Navy or Air Force when deciding whether to do it or not because he felt like the Army had the most competitive residency program for his specialty.
PS- DH did a civilian med school, so was IRR while in med school, became active duty when residency started (5 years for his specialty), and will owe 4 years as staff active duty. He will be deployable once staff and currently the max an ortho surgeon can be deployed for is 6 months. Of course deployment time frames are subject to change, but it's set by the surgeon general who looks at each specialty to determine what the best time frame is so that they don't loose skills while deployed (since you generally only see certain things when deployed). If your DH knows what he wants to go into, he should check with the recruiters to find out more about deployment time frames, etc.
Overall, DH (and I) have been very happy with him choosing to do the HPSP Program and I'm proud that he's serving our country.
Just a word about fellowship as it's the next step in DH's career and we've researched it extensively--the length of a fellowship varies according to the specialty (many are longer than a year) and there are no fellowship programs in the smaller hospitals such as the one in El Paso. San Antonio, the DC area, Seattle, etc... are where MTF fellowship programs most are located.
On fellowships: for Ortho at least, most of the fellowships are done at Civilian hospitals
I did HPSP through the Army, just finished an Army FP residency. I now owe 4 years. Be sure he looks into the differences between the branches, none is "better" than another but they are different with their own subcultures. They all pay the same (per congress). Army has more residencies so rarely defers to civilian residencies, deployments 6-15mo depending on the type of slot. Navy has traditionally required GMO years though seems to be getting away from this for some specialties-- though not long ago I knew guys who had finished Navy obligation w/o completing a residency which would hurt, I don't know much about their deployment cycles. Air Force has few residencies so sends more of their docs to civilian residencies which are good I'm sure but would be a different experience; deployments are shorter but more frequent (those I have known went for 6mo).
It's been a great experience I have great patients (active duty, dependents, and retirees) and I don't have to worry about insurance (for the most part). I would do it again (now there is a $20k sign on that I did NOT get), even if I don't stay in past my obligation.