Air Force HPSP- Before, During, and After

[ladylove5678]

Hi Everyone! I am well aware that my questions have probably already been answered, but its becoming increasingly difficult and time consuming to come through the posts and threads to find the answers that directly effect me so your help, knowledge, and honestly is greatly appreciated.

About me- I have just received my BS and I am currently in the process of applying to medical school for the 2019 matriculation. I have known about HPSP since my first year in college. I have receive some basic information on the Air Force HPSP program from an Air Force advisor but I still have some questions. While I would love to become a medical oncologist, I am well aware that my mind might change. Internal medicine or emergency medicine is probably my top two, which means about a 4 year residency program.

I intend to apply for the 4 year scholarship. I was told that "time spent in a military residency or fellowship program does not count towards service obligation" so that would mean only 4 years of service required after residency is completed, right?

1. what happens after the 4 years of active duty?

2. does the 4 years of active duty happen as soon as i complete the residency program.

3. am i limited to what medical schools i am allowed to go to

4. What are the financials like being an active duty physician?

5. What benefits are there for people who leave the military before that 20 year mark?

PS. I am not all that familiar with military acronyms so please let me know what they mean when you respond. THANKS!

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[pgg]

5. For lifers, minimum of 20 years: you will receive a portion of your last rank's base pay for the rest of your life

Not quite. It is not your last rank's base pay. Common planning error. Retirement pay is a percent of the average of the highest 36 months base pay.

Assuming you retire as an O5 after serving 20 years and a day, you can't just look at the pay tables and take the "O5 over 20" entry and multiply it by the blended system's 2% per year of service.

It's 1/3 x ("O5 over 16" + "O5 over 18" + "O5 over 18").

 

[Cooperd0g]

1/3 ?

 

[pgg]

1/3 ?

Average of high three:

18th year is at O5>16
19th year is at O5>18
20th year is at O5>18

Add those three together, multiply by 1/3 = average of high three. Then multiply by creditable years and the percentage (2% BRS, 2.5% legacy).

Roughly. (My commissioning date was in May but I'll retire in a July so it's not exactly right. Few people in the medical corps retire at exactly 20 years because training and special pay obligations are usually aligned with academic or fiscal years and most med schools graduate students in May or June.)

The overly beleaguered point being, people don't retire with a percentage of O5>20.

 

[Cooperd0g]

Right, sorry. I forgot you didn't average it first. I thought you were saying the pension was only 1/3 of the high 3. Been staring at the computer too long today I guess.

 

[ladylove5678]

Thank you all for your responses! I have been going through other threads with people breaking down the financials as an AD physician vs a civilian physician. Let me be honest, I understand and I agree that I should not go through HPSP only for financial reasons, but the financial security is a part of the reason for joining. I have been going back and forth and trying to figure out is there really a difference between AD and civilian financial at the end of the day.

As a civilian, worst case scenario- I receive no scholarships or grants and have to take out the maximum amount of loans, so as a civilian I will be looking at incurring a 200K student loan (based on average from AAMC). I am also being generous and taking the highest amount of student loans that I've seen because I also have some student loans from my undergraduate education. BTW my math is probably completely off!

Income before taxes= $200,000
Income after taxes (27%)= $145,960
Student loans per year (6% interest for 10 yrs)= $26,400
Malpractice insurance= $20,000
Total= $99,500

AD income is maybe less than $100k.

I also understand that the number above is dependent on many different factors and I have not included a lot of things.

Last question: After active duty, is it hard to land a civilian physician position? Is it a common/possible thing to do?

 

[colbgw02]

It's pretty standard for the practice or hospital to cover the malpractice insurance premiums.

 

[pgg]

Last question: After active duty, is it hard to land a civilian physician position? Is it a common/possible thing to do?

Short answer, most people have little trouble with the transition.

The long answer is very complicated. Three very general comments:

1) Some specialties, especially surgical ones, have to contend with significant skill atrophy while on active duty. People may acquire very specialized skills during training that may not be used often enough to maintain them on AD. Sometimes they can moonlight and keep up, other times they can't. It may not be easy to step into the kind of practice they want immediately after leaving service.

2) Some specialties suffer an opportunity cost with delayed entry into private practice. It takes time for them to establish a practice, grow a patient panel, build a referral network, start side businesses, etc. Delaying this by 5-10 years may be undesirable.

3) Those who wish to make a career in research are at a large disadvantage. The military just isn't set up to support meaningful research. It's not easy to leap back into that world after years of absence.

 

[deleted480308]

Thank you all for your responses! I have been going through other threads with people breaking down the financials as an AD physician vs a civilian physician. Let me be honest, I understand and I agree that I should not go through HPSP only for financial reasons, but the financial security is a part of the reason for joining. I have been going back and forth and trying to figure out is there really a difference between AD and civilian financial at the end of the day.

As a civilian, worst case scenario- I receive no scholarships or grants and have to take out the maximum amount of loans, so as a civilian I will be looking at incurring a 200K student loan (based on average from AAMC). I am also being generous and taking the highest amount of student loans that I've seen because I also have some student loans from my undergraduate education. BTW my math is probably completely off!

Income before taxes= $200,000
Income after taxes (27%)= $145,960
Student loans per year (6% interest for 10 yrs)= $26,400
Malpractice insurance= $20,000
Total= $99,500

AD income is maybe less than $100k.

I also understand that the number above is dependent on many different factors and I have not included a lot of things.

Last question: After active duty, is it hard to land a civilian physician position? Is it a common/possible thing to do?

An attending military doc makes >$100k

 

[ladylove5678]

Short answer, most people have little trouble with the transition.

The long answer is very complicated. Three very general comments:

1) Some specialties, especially surgical ones, have to contend with significant skill atrophy while on active duty. People may acquire very specialized skills during training that may not be used often enough to maintain them on AD. Sometimes they can moonlight and keep up, other times they can't. It may not be easy to step into the kind of practice they want immediately after leaving service.

2) Some specialties suffer an opportunity cost with delayed entry into private practice. It takes time for them to establish a practice, grow a patient panel, build a referral network, start side businesses, etc. Delaying this by 5-10 years may be undesirable.

3) Those who wish to make a career in research are at a large disadvantage. The military just isn't set up to support meaningful research. It's not easy to leap back into that world after years of absence.

1. i know my mind will change, but i have not really liked surgery, and my current top two is internal medicine and emergency medicine.

2. i am not yet sure if i want to go into private practice just yet.... maybe in the long run, like closer to retirement (i don't know if that is naive or not).

3. you can DEFINITELY count me out of research.

 

[Regmbr]

Hi Everyone! I am well aware that my questions have probably already been answered, but its becoming increasingly difficult and time consuming to come through the posts and threads to find the answers that directly effect me so your help, knowledge, and honestly is greatly appreciated.

About me- I have just received my BS and I am currently in the process of applying to medical school for the 2019 matriculation. I have known about HPSP since my first year in college. I have receive some basic information on the Air Force HPSP program from an Air Force advisor but I still have some questions. While I would love to become a medical oncologist, I am well aware that my mind might change. Internal medicine or emergency medicine is probably my top two, which means about a 4 year residency program.

I intend to apply for the 4 year scholarship. I was told that "time spent in a military residency or fellowship program does not count towards service obligation" so that would mean only 4 years of service required after residency is completed, right?

1. what happens after the 4 years of active duty?

2. does the 4 years of active duty happen as soon as i complete the residency program.

3. am i limited to what medical schools i am allowed to go to

4. What are the financials like being an active duty physician?

5. What benefits are there for people who leave the military before that 20 year mark?

PS. I am not all that familiar with military acronyms so please let me know what they mean when you respond. THANKS!

 

[Regmbr]

*see below for generic and general answers


I intend to apply for the 4 year scholarship. I was told that "time spent in a military residency or fellowship program does not count towards service obligation" so that would mean only 4 years of service required after residency is completed, right?

*Yes, but there are plenty of caveats, such as:
-many HPSP students are required to do ADT (active duty for training) rotations during medical school. This often means doing military-style rotations during medical school. So don't assume that there will be no military stuff for you until you finish residency.
-The government has the option of extending your active duty time under stop-loss regulations (Title 10, United States Code, Section 12305(a)) if it wants.


1. what happens after the 4 years of active duty?
*you can request separation from active duty. Possibilities that follow after that can be complicated, but many physicians who entered service under an HPSP track leave active duty at that point and enter the individual ready reserve (IRR). The details of the answer to your question here can be immensely complicated, but it's useful to summarize a ballpark scenario: assuming no hardcore wartime spin-up, no ongoing high-demand deployment taskings, and an otherwise standard active duty track with no significant curveballs--- generally speaking, in that ballpark scenario, you can request separation and go into private practice or whatever else you want to do.

2. does the 4 years of active duty happen as soon as i complete the residency program.
*Generally speaking, yes. Or, more specifically, it generally starts on the day you arrive to your first assigned station.

3. am i limited to what medical schools i am allowed to go to
*No. Any US medical school is OK.

4. What are the financials like being an active duty physician?
*Generally speaking, you're going to be making less money than you would as a private physician in the same job track.

5. What benefits are there for people who leave the military before that 20 year mark?
*You will get a million answers to this. I had the same question when I went the HPSP route and then got out prior to the 20 year mark. Here's the real-life answer I have found personally: the only benefits I have found are:
(a) discounted license plate for my car
(b) slightly discounted life insurance premium under VGLI (Veterans Group Life Insurance) for a small life insurance policy.

PS. I am not all that familiar with military acronyms so please let me know what they mean when you respond. THANKS!