C/O 2021 HPSP Thread (Army/AF/Navy)

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distressstudent

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What is HPSP?

Health Professional Scholarship Program. In exchange for scholarship benefits, you serve as a commissioned officer/dentist in the military for every year you receive said benefits during school.

Why should I join HPSP?
1. Full tuition + fee covered
a. ANY Public or Private fully accredited dental school (touro no go)
b. Including but not limited to: Loupes (1 per career), NBDE Part 1+2, health Insurance (variable), sim clinic supplies (variable)
c. Doesn't include: Licensure Exam (WREB,NERB, etc.)
2. Stipend
a. Stipend for 10.5 months ~ 2.2k per month
b. O1 Active Duty pay for 1.5 months ~ 3k per month
3. Pay during service years on O3 pay rank
Summary: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-does-an-army-dentist-make.1146209/

How do I apply?
Contact a recruiter. That means picking up to the phone to call a nearby recruiting office for officer . Asks specifically to talk to a health service recruiter. You CANNOT avoid a recruiter; there is absolutely no other way to apply.

There are three branches offering the scholarship: Air Force, Army, and Navy. Each branch runs their own applications process, so you need to contact a recruiter from each respective branch to start the process.

When should I apply?
For the four year scholarship, contact a recruiter no later than June of your application cycle year.
For the three year scholarship, contact a recruiter during the summer you matriculate into D1. Or rollover from a wait list the previous year.

Reason: Army/Navy/Air Force holds their first selection board around December. Depending on circumstances, as early as October. The application will take anywhere from couple of weeks to couple of months to prepare; expect couple of months on average. If you have a hiccup (big or small, medical related or not), expect an even longer process. It is "rolling admission", but punctuality is more important for HPSP admission than dental school admission in my experience.

What are my chances?
No good answer. All I can say is that it is getting more and more competitive with each passing year. Most recruiters I work with thinks a 3.5+ and 20+ DAT is "competitive", whatever that means.

You also need to have a clean record, good medical history, can pass height/weight standard, good EC, do well on your interview

How many spots?
I am not going to provide a number because it changes too often and there are too much variable. For the four year scholarship, army is in the hundreds, navy is below hundred, air force is dozen or two. However, that doesn't paint the whole picture because these branches still offer three year scholarships. Yet, I have never seen anyone give an estimate on those. Despite the low 4 year scholarship numbers, the Air Force definitely hand out majority of their scholarships as three year and two year scholarships.



Can I apply to all three branches?
YES
However, some recruiters will try to tell you that they wont work with you if they find out that you are applying to multiple branches.
Your options are to either bend over, working it out with your recruiter, or find a new recruiter.

What are the difference between the three branches?

The details of the scholarship is mostly the same: Enter as an O3 and serve as a dentist for every year you're on the scholarship.

However, the difference between the three branches is not to be understated. Culture, location, and regulations are very different. Read up on it because anything I say wont do it justice. For starters, consider length of deployment, where can you be deployed, how you will be deployed (ship or nah?), location of the base, etc.

As for as HPSP is concern, Army and Navy is near identical regarding HPSP. AF has more nuances in their contract. For starters, AF doesn't offer a 20k (pre-tax) bonus for signing a 4 year contract while Army/Navy does. Also, the AF contract states that you are required to apply to an 1 year AEGD and ACCEPT the position if selected. This clause was recently added to new AF HPSP contracts within the last 1-2 years. Who knows if anyone can wiggle their way out of accepting the position, but it is clearly stated in the contract.

What if I want to specialize?
You have two option:
1. Enter a civilian specialty program
2. Enter a military specialty program

If you choose to go with option 1, you need to request your branch to allow you to defer service to enter the civilian program. This request might or might not be approved depending on the needs of your branch. No guarantees.

If you choose option 2, you apply via your branch. The available spots will depend on the needs of the branch. Meaning, if you want to be an orthodontist and the Navy don't need anymore orthodontist, then tough luck. The advantage of military specialty program beside excellent training is that you are still an active duty member earning your rank's pay.

If you choose to specialize (including AEGD/ GPR), every year you specialize is a neutral year. Meaning, your years in training will not count towards your payback years. If you owe 4 years, and you do OMFS training for 4 years, you would have been serving for 8 years.

So 4 year scholarship is 4 year payback, 3 is 3, and 2 is 2? Right?

Not exactly.

In the air force, the minimum payback is three years. A two year scholarship is actually three years payback. Army/Navy don't offer two year scholarships as far as I know.

For all three branches, your payback is actually 8 years. Your payback years will be served out as active duty years. The remaining of those years, you will be inserted into Individual Ready Reserve. That means the military have the right to call you back to serve at anytime when you're an IRR. People say that no dentist has ever been called back from IRR.

What other options are there to serve in the military as a dentist?

In addition to the 60 HPSP slots, the Navy offers about 20 HCSP slots. Instead of paying for tuition, they pay you an E6 salary (potentially E7 if you recruit) for 4 years in exchange for 4 years of service. Generally the pay won't cover most public and definitely not any privates. However, you earn more during active duty than HPSP peers because those years count when factoring in officer pay. You also have to deal with more military stuff during school as a HCSP recipient that I am not familiar with.

Another option is direct accession. Not taking any scholarships, but going into a branch as a dentist after graduating. Not familiar with it, but the possibility is out there.

How accurate is this information?
Should be within the ballpark this year. However, be warned that details can change drastically within a year. Listen to your recruiter. Keep one eye open.

I definitely didn't cover everything so ask questions

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I met with my army recruiter today and he said I can't apply to any other branches but obviously I really want to maximize my chances of getting the scholarship. Is there anyone that can point me in the right direction of what to do?
I have a 3.77 science gpa, 3.83 Ogpa and 21 AA
 
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I met with my army recruiter today and he said I can't apply to any other branches but obviously I really want to maximize my chances of getting the scholarship. Is there anyone that can point me in the right direction of what to do?
I have a 3.77 science gpa, 3.83 Ogpa and 21 AA

Not sure why he said that- you can apply to as many branches as you want. I'm applying with multiple services and my recruiters have encouraged that.
 
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Not sure why he said that- you can apply to as many branches as you want. I'm applying with multiple services and my recruiters have encouraged that.
Yeah I don't know if he was saying that just to get me to only apply to the army and kinda scare me into it or if he was actually serious about it. Either way, I'm going to go ahead and apply to all three branches and if he has a problem with it, I'll just locate a different recruiter. I think that's the best option. My Air Force app is almost finished and he hasn't mentioned anything about other branches once so I don't see the problem.
 
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Not sure why he said that- you can apply to as many branches as you want. I'm applying with multiple services and my recruiters have encouraged that.
It's probably because at MEPS they encourage you to list one branch on your physical application. They tend to be very unhappy if you are attempting to commit to several branches and will pressure you into listing a single one.
 
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Hey guys, two questions regarding results/notification dates for HPSP selects:

1) Has anyone heard what the results/notification date is for the Air Force board (meeting on 15AUG2016)?
2) Has anyone heard what the results/notification date is for the "early" Navy board (meeting on 01OCT2016)?
 
I don't know the answers for the questions above, but do you know the notification and meeting dates for Army HPSP?
 
No idea on that information, sorry.
 
Hey guys, two questions regarding results/notification dates for HPSP selects:

1) Has anyone heard what the results/notification date is for the Air Force board (meeting on 15AUG2016)?
2) Has anyone heard what the results/notification date is for the "early" Navy board (meeting on 01OCT2016)?
The notification date will be in the first week of September for the Air Force. Not sure about the Navy but I'll probably be discussing that with my recruiter soon.
 
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The notification date will be in the first week of September for the Air Force.

Ahhhhh so nervous!

Tbh, I know a lot of people applying for the Air Force HPSP who have had grandparents, parents, and even spouses in the Air Force. Kinda makes me think those of us without a military background have no chance.
 
Ahhhhh so nervous!

Tbh, I know a lot of people applying for the Air Force HPSP who have had grandparents, parents, and even spouses in the Air Force. Kinda makes me think those of us without a military background have no chance.
Of the five I know that are in AF at my school, I know for sure at least 4 dont have any military background.

Is the September one for the 4 year scholarship? Man they are working quick. Some people even havent applied to dental school yet...
 
Of the five I know that are in AF at my school, I know for sure at least 4 dont have any military background.

Is the September one for the 4 year scholarship? Man they are working quick. Some people even havent applied to dental school yet...

Yes it is for the 4 yr.
Thank you that is encouraging.
 
If I've had surgery on my arm before (I was an athlete), will this disqualify me from getting the scholarship? I really want to apply for the Army and Air Force 4-year Scholarships this cycle but I am worried I will do all that work to be told I don't qualify because of my medical history.
 
If I've had surgery on my arm before (I was an athlete), will this disqualify me from getting the scholarship? I really want to apply for the Army and Air Force 4-year Scholarships this cycle but I am worried I will do all that work to be told I don't qualify because of my medical history.

Every applicant is asked to fill out a medical questionnaire (Google form 2807-2) which serves as a pre screen. For any questions that you answer "Yes" to, you provide medical documentation. This documentation is reviewed by the waiver authority of each recruiting service (the Surgeon General of the Air Force for example) and they make the final decision.

Your condition may be disqualifying but waiver able.

Also, Air Force board is meeting 10 days from now so you may be late for them.
 
Does the each branch have their own # of spots for medical, dental, etc? Or the scholarships are given to any specialty, depend on who applies?
 
Every applicant is asked to fill out a medical questionnaire (Google form 2807-2) which serves as a pre screen. For any questions that you answer "Yes" to, you provide medical documentation. This documentation is reviewed by the waiver authority of each recruiting service (the Surgeon General of the Air Force for example) and they make the final decision.

Your condition may be disqualifying but waiver able.

Also, Air Force board is meeting 10 days from now so you may be late for them.
I was disqualified from the Air Force due to medical reasons that I didn't think would be an issue, so I was told to look into the Navy and Army as they may be a bit less strict with my medical history. Never heard about a waiver though. Could you elaborate?
 
I was disqualified from the Air Force due to medical reasons that I didn't think would be an issue, so I was told to look into the Navy and Army as they may be a bit less strict with my medical history. Never heard about a waiver though. Could you elaborate?

Did you go to MEPS yet?

Suppose you had a history of [insert disqualifying condition here] (let's call it Condition X).
You no longer have X, but you still disclose it on the prescreen as legally required.

P.S.- Here is a document that contains list of disqualifying medical conditions. Just scroll down or control-f (find) a condition you are curious about.

Your prescreen is sent into MEPS, where the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) decides whether or not it is worth it for you to come in and have the medical tests done.
CMO decides that you are disqualified and can't come in. He tells your recruiter, who tells you.

Now, at this point, you can push for a waiver. For the Air Force, this means directing your medical file to the Surgeon General of the Air Force, who is the waiver authority.

The Surgeon General looks at your file and can do 3 things:
1) The SG can ask for more information (doctor's note, x ray results, etc.)
2) The SG can deny you.
3) The SG can approve you to go to MEPS, which is essentially overruling what the MEPS CMO said.

Now, if you get option #3, you go to MEPS, and after that, your packet is automatically sent back up to the AF Surgeon General for final approval.

If you are disqualified by the Air Force, do not despair! Each service has its own waiver authority and may waive a condition the other service will not.

I hope this helps.
 
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Did you go to MEPS yet?

Suppose you had a history of [insert disqualifying condition here] (let's call it Condition X).
You no longer have X, but you still disclose it on the prescreen as legally required.

P.S.- Here is a document that contains list of disqualifying medical conditions. Just scroll down or control-f (find) a condition you are curious about.

Your prescreen is sent into MEPS, where the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) decides whether or not it is worth it for you to come in and have the medical tests done.
CMO decides that you are disqualified and can't come in. He tells your recruiter, who tells you.

Now, at this point, you can push for a waiver. For the Air Force, this means directing your medical file to the Surgeon General of the Air Force, who is the waiver authority.

The Surgeon General looks at your file and can do 3 things:
1) The SG can ask for more information (doctor's note, x ray results, etc.)
2) The SG can deny you.
3) The SG can approve you to go to MEPS, which is essentially overruling what the MEPS CMO said.

Now, if you get option #3, you go to MEPS, and after that, your packet is automatically sent back up to the AF Surgeon General for final approval.

If you are disqualified by the Air Force, do not despair! Each service has its own waiver authority and may waive a condition the other service will not.

I hope this helps.
Ahh, I see. I have not gone to MEPS but my Air Force recruiter said that the Surgeon General himself did review my medical notes, after which I was disqualified. But I did just check out that list of disqualifying medical conditions and it seems like it might work out for the Navy but we'll see! Thanks so much for this info.
 
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Ahh, I see. I have not gone to MEPS but my Air Force recruiter said that the Surgeon General himself did review my medical notes, after which I was disqualified. But I did just check out that list of disqualifying medical conditions and it seems like it might work out for the Navy but we'll see! Thanks so much for this info.

Best of luck :)
 
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How many Navy HPSP do they give out? Not sure if I would be competitive..
oGPA: 3.35 sGPA: 3.32 gradGPA: 3.40 (Starting my M.S. in the fall)
DAT in my signature
 
How many Navy HPSP do they give out? Not sure if I would be competitive..
oGPA: 3.35 sGPA: 3.32 gradGPA: 3.40 (Starting my M.S. in the fall)
DAT in my signature
When I applied which was couple of years back the split was between 60 4 year hpsp and 20 hscp

GPA is kinda low, but DAT is good. My rule of thumb is if you're good enough to get into dental school, you're good enough to get a scholarship. If you're applying to dental school with what you have, might as well apply for the scholarship too
 
When I applied which was couple of years back the split was between 60 4 year hpsp and 20 hscp

GPA is kinda low, but DAT is good. My rule of thumb is if you're good enough to get into dental school, you're good enough to get a scholarship. If you're applying to dental school with what you have, might as well apply for the scholarship too
Yes, I'm currently gathering all my documents while working with my recruiter. Will be meeting her tomorrow.
So far I have 1 interview invite from Nova
 
I talked to an army recruiter the other day and he said the soonest they start giving out scholarships is mid January. Is this right??
 
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I talked to an army recruiter the other day and he said the soonest they start giving out scholarships is mid January. Is this right??

My Army recruiter indicated the first board will be in October.
 
I could be wrong. @USArmyHPSP Would you happen to know when the first selection board is this year for 4 year dental HPSP?
 
does the HPSP only apply to dental students or is that viable for M.D. as well?
 
I could be wrong. @USArmyHPSP Would you happen to know when the first selection board is this year for 4 year dental HPSP?

Just spoke with Director, Accessions Command for Dentistry. First board will be in Oct for three year scholarships and next will be Dec for four years. Based on past experience, January may very well be when the board results are released.
 
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What are the requirements for eyesight? Is it that they have to only be correctable to 20/20, or will you get disqualified if you dont get all the depth perception questions (I've got a mild lazy eye that prevents me from having perfect depth perception)

Seeing as MEPS is expensive, and the application process is extensive I'd rather get some feedback from you guys before committing to this process.
 
Does the applicant have to pay for MEPS?
 
You do not pay for MEPS.

Tastemyrage, there is not a requirement for passing the depth perception test. Correctable to 20/20 is fine. For more info, go look up the standards. Google "Manmed Ch. 15"
 
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contacted the Air Force today and was informed that it is too late to apply for the 4 year program.... they said the boards have already met and students entering dental school in 2017 will only be eligible for a 3 year scholarship provided they apply next year


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contacted the Air Force today and was informed that it is too late to apply for the 4 year program.... they said the boards have already met and students entering dental school in 2017 will only be eligible for a 3 year scholarship provided they apply next year


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Yep - results for the 4 year Air Force Dental HPSP come out in a few weeks.
 
Yep - results for the 4 year Air Force Dental HPSP come out in a few weeks.

So most people submit their Air Force application before their aadsas app? I only took my DAT on July 1st, so I guess I was already too late by their standards


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I've got an appointment on Monday with a navy recruiter however, so hopefully that all works out. Still chasing the dream of being able to serve and go to dental school for free haha


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I've got an appointment on Monday with a navy recruiter however, so hopefully that all works out. Still chasing the dream of being able to serve and go to dental school for free haha

With your stats, you're a shoo-in for the Navy. Good luck man!!
 
Also do you guys know when I have to accept my scholarship by, provided I receive one? Especially in the case of applying for the early acceptance navy scholarship.


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Also do you guys know when I have to accept my scholarship by, provided I receive one? Especially in the case of applying for the early acceptance navy scholarship.


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From what I have experienced, it seems like it's between you and your recruiter.
Generally they want an an answer within a week or under (to get the paperwork going since it takes awhile)
Although nothing is legally binding until you swear your oath and sign your papers
 
From what I have experienced, it seems like it's between you and your recruiter.
Generally they want an an answer within a week or under (to get the paperwork going since it takes awhile)
Although nothing is legally binding until you swear your oath and sign your papers

alright the reason I ask is because I'm undecided about which school I will attend and would like to wait off until December 1st before accepting the scholarship. If I decide on my in state school, I will probably not accept the scholarship. if I go out of state, I am 99% sure I will accept it. Do you think it would be alright to tell the recruiter this on our first meeting?


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alright the reason I ask is because I'm undecided about which school I will attend and would like to wait off until December 1st before accepting the scholarship. If I decide on my in state school, I will probably not accept the scholarship. if I go out of state, I am 99% sure I will accept it. Do you think it would be alright to tell the recruiter this on our first meeting?


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Texas schools?
 
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