Navy vs AF HPSP

[bndent]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me the pros and cons of the HPSP scholarship programs within the different branches of the military (Navy, AF, Army). I have heard a lot of different things about each of the programs and was looking for other peoples insight on what each of the different branches has to offer.

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[eric275]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me the pros and cons of the HPSP scholarship programs within the different branches of the military (Navy, AF, Army). I have heard a lot of different things about each of the programs and was looking for other peoples insight on what each of the different branches has to offer.

You might want to try and do some searches within this forum using the search tab. The question you ask is very open-ended and there have been some good posts in the past discussing the differences.

While the HPSP scholarships offer the same benefits regardless of branch, service in each branch is completely different, as each branch has a different mission in war time.

 

[bndent]

I've read through most of the post on military dentistry and talked to a couple of recruiters already, but I still wanted to get other peoples opinions on what they thought of the program. I've read a lot on both the Navy and Army with in this forum, but there doesn't seem to be that much on the AF. From what I can gather is the AF is the most competitive. Is this due to the fact that the AF just has less scholarships or does the AF offer other benefits over the other two branches?

 

[btizzels]

I've read through most of the post on military dentistry and talked to a couple of recruiters already, but I still wanted to get other peoples opinions on what they thought of the program. I've read a lot on both the Navy and Army with in this forum, but there doesn't seem to be that much on the AF. From what I can gather is the AF is the most competitive. Is this due to the fact that the AF just has less scholarships or does the AF offer other benefits over the other two branches?

Yes the AF has alot less scholarships.... but they also get deployed less, but it kinda depends on your situation. Like do you have kids or are you single and do you like moving around and seeing new things. My advice is to apply to both since the AF one is pretty hard to get.

 

[dheav005]

the scholarship program themselves are identical at this point. the branches have standardized the offerings to prevent recruiters from playing off each other with unfulfillable promises.

the difference between USA, USN and USAF is the sort of military experience you are after. if you want a chance to deploy as a brigade dentist for 12-15 months, join the Army. want to be haze gray and underway or checking out devil dog mouths? try the Navy. think BDUs look good, but want to avoid lengthy deployments and have the nicest bases? then you want the Air Force.

 

[makushin]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you guys could give me the pros and cons of the HPSP scholarship programs within the different branches of the military (Navy, AF, Army). I have heard a lot of different things about each of the programs and was looking for other peoples insight on what each of the different branches has to offer.

Only do the Army if you're down with tent camps and a more legit "military" experience. I mean, you will shoot rifles and can get airborne training and whatnot.

Only do the Navy if you're down with living on a carrier for 6 months. I personally think the Navy bases are generally in more desirable locations.

The AF is certainly the most "civilian". They have bases in exciting places like Fairbanks, AK and Minot, ND.

 

[Smills91]

the scholarship program themselves are identical at this point. the branches have standardized the offerings to prevent recruiters from playing off each other with unfulfillable promises.

the difference between USA, USN and USAF is the sort of military experience you are after. if you want a chance to deploy as a brigade dentist for 12-15 months, join the Army. want to be haze gray and underway or checking out devil dog mouths? try the Navy. think BDUs look good, but want to avoid lengthy deployments and have the nicest bases? then you want the Air Force.

Can you decipher some of this lingo for some of us, 'civilian' folk. thanks.

 

[bndent]

the scholarship program themselves are identical at this point. the branches have standardized the offerings to prevent recruiters from playing off each other with unfulfillable promises.

the difference between USA, USN and USAF is the sort of military experience you are after. if you want a chance to deploy as a brigade dentist for 12-15 months, join the Army. want to be haze gray and underway or checking out devil dog mouths? try the Navy. think BDUs look good, but want to avoid lengthy deployments and have the nicest bases? then you want the Air Force.

When you say the AF has the nicest bases, what exactly is nicer about it? The facilities? living conditions? overall locations? Could you just describe why you think the AF bases are nicest out of the three.

 

[coreyb]

When you say the AF has the nicest bases, what exactly is nicer about it? The facilities? living conditions? overall locations? Could you just describe why you think the AF bases are nicest out of the three.

Housing and facilities are nicer on AF bases, but the locations are not. I was stationed in Wichita Falls, Texas (Sheppard AFB) and Grand Forks, North Dakota (Grand Forks AFB).

One officer jokingly (I think) said the USAF builds the golf course, bowling alley and theatre first, and when the budget runs out, they request $ for the runways, haha!!

NAVY has the benefit of being at the coast for their bases, so if you like being at the coast (surfing, yay!), they are well located. I've only been on 1 Navy base, and that was only for a day, so I can't give too many details, but it seemed pretty nice.

I've been on several Army bases and their facilities tend to be older and rundown, but there's more Army bases, so you might have a better chance of being stationed someplace exotic.

PS. I was enlisted active duty USAF and I am currently on the Navy HSCP scholarship (yes, I tried for the USAF scholarship first).

 

[dheav005]

Can you decipher some of this lingo for some of us, 'civilian' folk. thanks.

sorry. i am already forgetting how to be a civilian...

an army brigade dentist (like HawkeyeDDS, who can feel free to correct me on this) is attached to a brigade or infantry unit rather then a dental command asset. this means they work at the whim of the company commander, maybe doing dentistry, maybe not. their deployment cycle matches the high OPTEMPO that the Army infantry maintains these days.

Navy ships are painted a color called 'haze gray' that makes their profile hard to distinguish at the waterline. underway refers to being out from home port. so the phrase basically means being out on a ship. for days. or weeks. or months.

devil dogs are Marines. just a nickname, like leathernecks or jarhead. (i did google around and find this explanation. "Devil Dog - The Germans after the battle at Belleau Wood in World War I called the Marines "Teufelhunden", which translates as Devil Dog, because of the fierce fighting that the Marines demonstrated.")

battle dress uniforms (BDUs) are camouflage fatigues worn by all the US armed forces. both the Army and Air Force (as well as Marines) wear a BDU uniform as a standard uniform of the day, wheras the Navy's service uniform is khakis/whites/blues. i just always crack up a little bit when my residency class has joint functions with Langley's AEGD. us Navy officers are in our khakis, ribbons and all, while the AF docs are in BDUs. just a funny dichotomy to me...

hope the explanations help!

 

[dheav005]

When you say the AF has the nicest bases, what exactly is nicer about it? The facilities? living conditions? overall locations? Could you just describe why you think the AF bases are nicest out of the three.

that is purely an observation on my part. in comparing Langley with Norfolk, two bases on opposite sides of the same body of water, it just seems that the officers quarters are in better exterior repair, there is less of an industrial feel to the base. of course, Langley doesnt have 5 carriers home ported on the piers to care for...

 

[makushin]

that is purely an observation on my part. in comparing Langley with Norfolk, two bases on opposite sides of the same body of water, it just seems that the officers quarters are in better exterior repair, there is less of an industrial feel to the base. of course, Langley doesnt have 5 carriers home ported on the piers to care for...

From what I gather Norfolk is the worst regarded Navy base, so this might not be the best comparison.

I also have an anecdote. When I lived out in Hawaii I spent a lot of time on the different bases as I had family/friends that lived on them. The Navy/Marine housing seemed to be much newer and larger than the AF housing. So I think it just depends on the base.

 

[Smills91]

Anyone have any thoughts on the different brances and the AEGD's and GPR's and how they compare?

I know the AF has the 1 and 2 year AEGD, but do they have a GPR as well?
The navy has just a 1 year AEGD, but I know for a fact that they have a 1 year GPR as well.

Anyone with more experience care to elaborate on the differences in these programs and how they may differ amongst the different branches.

I'm not all that interested in Army, so if you want to ignore them feel free.

Thanks in advance.

 

[makushin]

Anyone have any thoughts on the different brances and the AEGD's and GPR's and how they compare?

I know the AF has the 1 and 2 year AEGD, but do they have a GPR as well?
The navy has just a 1 year AEGD, but I know for a fact that they have a 1 year GPR as well.

Anyone with more experience care to elaborate on the differences in these programs and how they may differ amongst the different branches.

I'm not all that interested in Army, so if you want to ignore them feel free.

Thanks in advance.

I thought the Navy offered the 2year AEGD as well.

 

[Smills91]

I thought the Navy offered the 2year AEGD as well.

Not according to my recruiter. THey just have the 1 year GPR and the 1 year AEGD. The Army and AF both have a 2 year AEGD, that I know for sure.

 

[eric275]

Not according to my recruiter. THey just have the 1 year GPR and the 1 year AEGD. The Army and AF both have a 2 year AEGD, that I know for sure.

Your recruiter doesn't know what he/she is talking about or is just flat out lying, the Navy does have a 2 year AEGD/Comprehensive dentistry program.
Here's a link.

http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Careers/Postgraduate_Dental_School/Comprehensive_Dentistry/Residency.aspx

 

[Smills91]

Your recruiter doesn't know what he/she is talking about or is just flat out lying, the Navy does have a 2 year AEGD/Comprehensive dentistry program.
Here's a link.

http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Ca...School/Comprehensive_Dentistry/Residency.aspx

Good to know, do you got any details on the GPR. Like how many apply for it vs how many actually get accepted each year? What's the main difference between a GPR and an AEGD? Thanks

 

[eric275]

Good to know, do you got any details on the GPR. Like how many apply for it vs how many actually get accepted each year? What's the main difference between a GPR and an AEGD? Thanks

The main difference is that GPR's are more hospital based. I'm adding a link that describes the scope of GPR's and the four locations that they are currently offered. I don't know the numbers but from years past I have heard that GPR's typically don't have as many slots and can be harder to get. But again it just depends on the year and the applicant pool.

http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/Careers/Postgraduate_Dental_School/GPR/

 

[dheav005]

as one who has will receive his AEGD certificate tomorrow morning when i finish checking out of my command, the difference is one of focus.

my program was a broad range of general dentistry. a little (or really, a lot) of everything. ortho, endo, perio, TMD, oral surgery, prosth (rem & fixed), oral medicine, implants, lit review, didactic, CE, little on call time.

my GPR buddies over at portsmouth have had a very different year. they are essentially OSBs (oral surgery bitches). tons of 24 hour call, prep work of OS surgeries, post-ops, much less rotation time in general dentistry, more rotation time in medicine/surgery/anesthesia, etc. they are like oral surgery pre-residents. which is great is you want to be an oral surgery (3 out of 4 of them do).

i made the best choice for me, but hopefully this gives you a little insight into a couple of Navy programs.

also, these two year 'AEGD' programs arent really set-up for new dental graduates (though a few have gone to the Navy one up at Bethesda). the comprehensive dentistry program is more for career guys who arent going to specialize in one of the ADA recognized specialties, but who desire extra training, specialty pay in the armed forces, as well as promotion opportunities. 'comp trained' dentists are specialists in the military's eyes, though if they went to private practice and called themselves "comprehensive specialists", no one would know what they are advertising. as a new dentist, the one year AEGD/GPR is really sufficient to get your feet underneath you and out into the world.

 

[Smills91]

as one who has will receive his AEGD certificate tomorrow morning when i finish checking out of my command, the difference is one of focus.

my program was a broad range of general dentistry. a little (or really, a lot) of everything. ortho, endo, perio, TMD, oral surgery, prosth (rem & fixed), oral medicine, implants, lit review, didactic, CE, little on call time.

my GPR buddies over at portsmouth have had a very different year. they are essentially OSBs (oral surgery bitches). tons of 24 hour call, prep work of OS surgeries, post-ops, much less rotation time in general dentistry, more rotation time in medicine/surgery/anesthesia, etc. they are like oral surgery pre-residents. which is great is you want to be an oral surgery (3 out of 4 of them do).

i made the best choice for me, but hopefully this gives you a little insight into a couple of Navy programs.

also, these two year 'AEGD' programs arent really set-up for new dental graduates (though a few have gone to the Navy one up at Bethesda). the comprehensive dentistry program is more for career guys who arent going to specialize in one of the ADA recognized specialties, but who desire extra training, specialty pay in the armed forces, as well as promotion opportunities. 'comp trained' dentists are specialists in the military's eyes, though if they went to private practice and called themselves "comprehensive specialists", no one would know what they are advertising. as a new dentist, the one year AEGD/GPR is really sufficient to get your feet underneath you and out into the world.

Awesome information, thank you very much.

 

[paul510psu]

You guys make it sound like it is very difficult to get into the Air Force HPSP. Is this true, because I was thinking about only applying to the AF HPSP. If that is true then I will apply to both the NAVY and the AF to increase my chances of getting into one of the programs.

Do you know what they use for criteria to judge the applicants? Are the criteria similar to the criteria that dental schools use to judge applicants?

Thanks for your help!

 

[AFDDS]

Actually over the last 2 years, the AF has had more scholarships than Army or Navy.

 

[Smills91]

Actually over the last 2 years, the AF has had more scholarships than Army or Navy.

I believe you but want some clarification. Is that more ACCEPTED scholarships, or AVAILABLE scholarships, or both? Also, do you have any numbers and/or links to validate it. Thanks.

 

[AFDDS]

I just returned from a meeting with the Corps Chiefs from all the services. The AF has filled approx 120% of its 2-4 year scholarships over the last 2 years. Army and Navy about 30% each.

You may be correct that more are offered total by the other services, I'll check my numbers.