Military paying for med school

I’m not trying to come across as a war monger (I’m a Democrat). I am a 9 year Army veteran (NCO - enlisted in the Field Artillery) and combat veteran so I know the military is far from perfect.


As far as training goes, I plan to look at several residency programs, because I’m sure some are substandard compared to others.


I went back into the military for the retirement and to hopefully work in a VA hospital after retirement. This is the right choice for myself. I’m not implying that it’s right for anyone else. If I were 10 years younger, I might take another route.


For myself it’s not completely about the money, although it partially is. If training is a big issue, as it should be to all of us, I suggest we all do our homework.


With that said, let’s put an end to this discussion. I think our energies would be better spent elsewhere.


The best of luck to you in your future goals.



Sorry but this discussion is not limited to you and I. People are free to continue to post. You can decide not to and that is your choice.

Hi Croooz!


I’ve spent a little over 7 years active duty as an enlisted Air Force med lab tech. I was accepted to USUHS and went through the entire process of putting a package together for HPSP (but didn’t submit it) so I have researched both very thoroughly.


Personally, after all was said and done, I just couldn’t justify staying in. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great way to pay for school and if a military career is what you want, USUHS is a no-brainer. Being stationed in San Antonio, I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of work at Wilford Hall Medical Center, which is one of the largest hospitals in the Air Force. Sadly, I did not meet one physician who encouraged me to take the USUHS acceptance or an HPSP scholarship. Universally I was told (at least for the Air Force) it’s not worth it unless you are 100% positive you want a military career. In addition, many specialties are being contracted out as the Air Force continues to slash manpower and place those of us who wear the uniform in more traditional military positions. I am not sure if you know this or not, but currently the military doesn’t make you specialize in something you don’t want, but they can tell you that you can’t specialize in something if they do not have a need for the type of physician you want to be when that time comes. Two of the Air Force docs I spoke with faced this dilemma so they volunteered to do a general internship their first year out of med school then did a two year stint as a Flight Surgeon (GMO tour) and then reapplied for their residency program of choice after two years. Both got the specialty they wanted the second time around, but they were scared to death. Both were HPSP recipients so worse case scenario would have been another Flight Surgeon tour to finish out their commitment, get out, and then apply for residency as a civilian. With that being said, this is definitely something that should be considered.


However, most military docs will tell you to consider the FAP program. I don’t know too much about this, but apparently you apply after residency and you can come into the military in your chosen field and some of your loans will be repaid.


I’m sure there are some military physicians on here who know the system much better than I do, but I can only speak about what I was told and what I saw.


In the end, for me the pros didn’t outweigh the cons so I decided to get out. Of course we all have different circumstances, but I hope something here has been helpful.


Good Luck!

Thanks for the reply. The conversations you’ve had with docs is the same that I’m having. No one is recommending I go back in. Now the interesting part is the talk of the pension. Civilian docs tell me to go back in. Military docs tell me to not worry about the pension there’s enough money as a civilian.


So I’m still on the fence. While I’ll be the first to tell people not to do it for the money (scholarship) not sure what I can say about doing it for the pension. Actually now that I think about it once military docs know I have 10 years in they tell me I should go back in simply for the pension.


Decisions…decisions…decisions…


Again thanks for the reply.