Troy,
I'm coming to AZCOM on the Navy HPSP. I've been in the Navy for 13 years and although I'm getting discharged next month to start school, I already am anxious to get back out to the Navy. I entered the Navy as an enlisted nuclear reactor plant mechanic, the Navy paid for college and made me an officer, sent me to flight training, gave me a high performance jet to fly for 8 years, and now is sending me to medical school.
The Navy has sent me and my family all over the world. I fly the EA-6B Prolwer, an aircraft carrier based jet, and was stationed in Japan (just outside Tokyo) for 3 years. While in Japan, I was deployed for nearly 18 months out of 36 months assigned to my squadron, onboard the USS KITTY HAWK. Yes I was gone a lot, but did some great things. I flew combat missions in Iraq and have visited nearly every major city in the Pacific Rim (by the way, Australia is everything they say it is, a fantastic country, been to both Sydney and Perth)...Singapore, Hong Kong, Guam, Korea, Thailand (into the jungles in the north), United Arab Emerites, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; each location numerous times. Plus my wife has traveled to the middle east to visit me, to Thailand, Guam, and all over Japan.....all courtesy of the Navy. Sure, deployments can be difficult and challenging for the service member and the family, but there's a sense of purpose in one's mission and duties that I believe most jobs cannot provide. Where else do you execute a direct order from the President of the U.S. to protect our great country?
Many folks focus simply on the "away" times of the various services. I saw them as adventures and I can't wait to get back out to the fleet after med school. My wife enjoys Navy life, she balances the "away" time with the benefits. She loves to travel and enjoys the benefits of the housing, medical and dental coverage, the commissary, etc., not to speak of the comraderie and friendship of military members and spouses.
As you can tell, I won't be one to talk you out of military service. If you take the scholarship, it's only 4 years. Four years to serve your country and to gain a level of experience that most don't.
Many who have issues with military life walk into it with erroneous misconceptions. The core concept of military service is "we", not "I". It's a team and not every one can get their way. If you want to get into dermatology and the Navy doesn't need dermatologists, then you might not get offered a derm residency, but rather one in FP or IM, or whatever is needed. Or you can skip a Navy residency and do a civilian one, there's many options. Timing and needs of the service pay major roles.
I could go on longer, but this post is too long already. I feel I have a very good idea what military service is about, as I've "been there and done that" and have served with many Navy docs (and picked their brains extensively). I'd be more than glad to talk more when we meet at school.
As Shane mentioned, my opinion too is based on my experiences and I've been fortunate to have many positive experiences with the Navy.
Just wanted to answer your question regarding the note-taking service. We dont' have any sort of formal note-taking service here -- it's not needed. The professors produce all of our note-packets, and if you go to class, all you have to do is highlight and write in little extra notes and things if it helps you. They put these note packets in your student mailbox a couple of days before their lecture, so it's up to you if you attend their lecture. Some prof's only give out their lecture packets in class, so if you're not one to attend class, you have to have a buddy pick it up for you. They hired a professional note-taker a couple of years ago for neuro -- I haven't heard of anything like that since then though. 
