Military Scholarship???

[serina]

Hi,

I'll be starting dental this fall and I'm seriously considering military scholarship. Although I've been doing research on it and have been trying to get opinions from people, I'm having a hard time deciding whether it would be a good choice. I was wondering if anyone here is taking the scholarship or know someone who has experienced it. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

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UCSF Class of 2008

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[Midoc]

I'm a second year student with a four year HPSP scholarship through the Army.

The very first thing I would say about this scholarship is that if you are considering it ONLY for the monetary aspect then DO NOT APPLY FOR IT. Depending on how much your school costs you can make more money in private practice, come out even or make a little bit more with the scholarship than if you did it all on loans. However, the bull**** factor is going to be much higher in the military.

On the other hand, if you have a desire to serve your country, practice dentistry in a nice environment, work with experienced clinicians, be decently compensated, have less stress during school and live it up a little in school then I would urge you to consider a military scholarship. Out of the above list I would say that the primary criterion should be desire to serve your country, if you don't have this then you will most likely be unhappy with the scholarship.

I am very happy that I've accepted this scholarship (even more so since I just heard there is likely to be an 8% tuition increase next year). The Army has never been late with paying my monthly stipend, paying tuition at school or reimbursing me for my books. It is at times difficult and frustrating to get straight answers to my questions but you take the bad with the good.

If you have any more questions I would be happy to answer them.

 

[Radioheadblue]

Hi Midoc

I am also considering a military scholarship? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to specialize after school? I've heard that they really want you to be general dentist and don't need much else, with the exception of oral surgery perhaps.

On a more superficial note, do you know the average salary of an experienced military dentists? Say 10-15 years experience with military dentistry?

Thanks

 

[Midoc]

I really should be studying for the Endo and Pedo exams I have tomorrow so I'll have to make this quick. If you want more indepth information i can get that later.

First off if you specalize in the military you will be in a lot longer. You will have your scholarship paypack time, your time spent in the specialty program plus payback time for specialty training.

To specialize immediately after school it is rather difficult. They only accept a few students directly out of school for specialty programs. After a year or two it gets much easier though. If you intend it stay in the military for longer than your original payback time it gets even easier, in fact they heavily encourage specializing. You enter active service at the rank of O-3, I have heard that to exceed the rank of 0-4 you will HAVE to have specialty training in progress or completed.

Here are some numbers I put together a while ago, I'm not 100% certain they're correct but I think they're close. Scenario - 9 years military experience, rank 0-4, completed OMS training, just commited to 4 more years in the military. Yearly pay would exceed $115,000. This does not include any income tax savings (which would be substantial, much of your income isn't taxed) nor your sales tax savings (items bought on base have none). Those together could probably add $20k+ additional value.

I hope that was understandable, if not let me know and I can revise it later.

 

[Radioheadblue]

Thanks Midoc

I don't think it would be a bad idea to serve the military, get more experience, figure out what you really like doing and then try to specialize after your committment is done. However, I'm not sure how much pressure is put on someone to committ to more service. Do you think military dentists see the full array of dental cases, meaning have around the same variety of cases day to day as non-military dentists?

Don't worry about responding to my measly questions while studying for your exams. Good luck.

 

[sxr71]

Originally posted by Midoc
I really should be studying for the Endo and Pedo exams I have tomorrow so I'll have to make this quick. If you want more indepth information i can get that later.

First off if you specalize in the military you will be in a lot longer. You will have your scholarship paypack time, your time spent in the specialty program plus payback time for specialty training.

To specialize immediately after school it is rather difficult. They only accept a few students directly out of school for specialty programs. After a year or two it gets much easier though. If you intend it stay in the military for longer than your original payback time it gets even easier, in fact they heavily encourage specializing. You enter active service at the rank of O-3, I have heard that to exceed the rank of 0-4 you will HAVE to have specialty training in progress or completed.

Here are some numbers I put together a while ago, I'm not 100% certain they're correct but I think they're close. Scenario - 9 years military experience, rank 0-4, completed OMS training, just commited to 4 more years in the military. Yearly pay would exceed $115,000. This does not include any income tax savings (which would be substantial, much of your income isn't taxed) nor your sales tax savings (items bought on base have none). Those together could probably add $20k+ additional value.

I hope that was understandable, if not let me know and I can revise it later.

I'm guessing that you need to make around $190,000 - $200,000 to make around $115,000 take home pay. So it the income tax benefit could be quite a bit more than $20,000. I hope I'm understanding this correctly.

 

[Midoc]

I don't think it would be a bad idea to serve the military, get more experience, figure out what you really like doing and then try to specialize after your committment is done. However, I'm not sure how much pressure is put on someone to committ to more service. Do you think military dentists see the full array of dental cases, meaning have around the same variety of cases day to day as non-military dentists?

Unfortunately I cannot answer these questions from personal experience. However, I do not think that they would attempt to strong arm you into signing up for more years of service. From everything I see it looks like they try to entice you to stay in longer though (specilize = more years, sign on for more years = more pay). What you see on a day to day basis will depend largely on what facility you're at and the personnel there. For instance if you're placed on a large base in a large clinic you may be just an amalgam factory for a time while the higher rank dentists get to do the more interesting cases. On the other hand if you're attached to a small clinic or unit you may be the only one there and be able to anything and everything. The chances of the latter are increased if you do an AEGD but so are your chances of being deployed.

I'm guessing that you need to make around $190,000 - $200,000 to make around $115,000 take home pay. So it the income tax benefit could be quite a bit more than $20,000. I hope I'm understanding this correctly.

Your base pay is taxed, I don't think your housing/food allowance is taxed and I think most of your special pays are not taxed. In the previous example $62.5k was from base pay, $12k was from housing/food allowance and $40.5k was from four different types of special pay. In the best case scenario where no housing/food allowance is taxed and no special pay is taxed and the tax is estimated at 30% then you would save approximately $15k/year in income tax. You also save on sales taxes but that would vary with what you buy.