How military doctors get paid, and to how to make sure you’re getting paid what you deserve

Between Indy and Spousal Unit, we have 15 consecutive years of experience in dealing with military finance. Military pay is complicated enough, but for military physicians the situation gets much more complicated than a typical member of the Armed Force. Physicians serving as military officers receive the same pay and allowances as other military members; basic pay, basic allowance for

» Read more

Which branch of HPSP should I choose?

I get a lot of questions from people who are considering a military scholarship for medical school about how to decide which branch of service to join. I can’t tell any one person where they will be the happiest, and of course it’s no secret which branch of service I chose for myself (the Air Force). My information on the Army and

» Read more

I want to be a ____, should I do HPSP?

I get a lot of questions about specialty choice and the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). For those unfamiliar with HPSP, it is a program in which the military pays for medical school. In return, you owe the military a certain number of years of service after graduation. For more information on HPSP and how it works, see this article. For

» Read more

Reader Questions: So you want a civilian deferral – Army version

Hey Indy, Do you know how the civilian deferral process works for the Army match?  I’ve heard rumors that you can’t actually rank civilian deferral on your rank list.  Instead, civilian deferrals are given out based on the Army’s need.  Is there any truth to this? I really appreciate your help. You may have already read the original So you want

» Read more

Reader Questions: Do I have to rank civilian deferral?

Hey, first off, thank you for your site and sharing info. I am currently a third year medical student in AFHPSP as well. And I’m not really interested in civilian deferred position. So if I am interested in EM and FM or IM, can I put multiple EM as primary, FM or IM and secondary and not put civilian deferment in my rank

» Read more

HPSP Student To-Do List, by Year

In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions… I get a lot of questions from people about what they should be doing. It goes something like this: “Um… I’m an M1 and I started classes a week ago… Am I supposed to be doing something to prepare for the military match?” Or this: “I’m in my last week of M3 and

» Read more

Military vs Civilian Residency for HPSP Students

A reader recently asked me a question about choosing residencies. Specifically, he wanted to know about the reasons why I chose to request civilian deferral for residency. I have also received several questions about the actual process of applying for a civilian deferral and going through the military and civilian match, and I wrote a post on that subject here. For the purposes

» Read more

How to apply for the Air Force Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP)

I have been meaning to write this post for a while, and I recently got an email that spurred me to just write it. The question was when and how to apply to the Air Force Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). So, here goes! A basic rundown of how to apply to HPSP. Who should I talk to? You should

» Read more

So you want a civilian deferral

January 2016 Update: This page really talks about the Air Force process for requesting civilian deferral, as well as general considerations in applying for civilian deferral. Another post will be coming soon about the Army process.   So you’re a medical student on a military scholarship and you want to train in a civilian residency – you want to defer

» Read more

The Health Professions Scholarship Program, or Getting Uncle Sam to pay for medical school

As a medical student on a military scholarship, I get a lot of questions about the benefits, the downsides, and how to go about getting your very own military scholarship. As part of a series of posts about the military Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), today we will be talking about the basics: what it is, what it pays for,

» Read more
1 2