Planning on HPSP - List Military status on AACOMAS app?

[Asclepius293]

Hey all,

Currently filling out my application for AACOMAS. In the military status section, it asks for my anticipated military status at the time of enrollment. Since I plan on doing the HPSP program through the Navy, should I list member of reserve? Anybody know how to go about this?

Thanks

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[68PGunner]

Hey all,

Currently filling out my application for AACOMAS. In the military status section, it asks for my anticipated military status at the time of enrollment. Since I plan on doing the HPSP program through the Navy, should I list member of reserve? Anybody know how to go about this?

Thanks

Negative. You're a civilian until your sign Uncle Sam's Indentured Servant Contract with your blood.

 

[trev5150]

Negative. You're a civilian until your sign Uncle Sam's Indentured Servant Contract with your blood.

What he said. You haven't done anything yet. Your plans are meaningless until you sign your tuchus over to Uncle Sugar.

 

[Asclepius293]

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[jwilliams1993]

It may be nice to mention in your personal statement if it fits at all. I'm also applying for the HPSP program (army) and my commissioner told me that a lot of times, they'll contact the schools and tell them you're going for HPSP. He said a lot of schools sometimes will bump you above other people because the school finds it easier to receive funds this way through the military as opposed to working through financial aid. I'm not sure if that's even true, but I thought I'd pass along what was told.

 

[Asclepius293]

@jwilliams1993 yeah I am! I've heard that too. And i guess they like it somewhat because it's helpful for their student diversity. Like on pamphlets they can say we have this percentage of military students or whatever. Lol. At the least it might be interesting for a talking point in interviews and something for them to read.

 

[68PGunner]

It may be nice to mention in your personal statement if it fits at all. I'm also applying for the HPSP program (army) and my commissioner told me that a lot of times, they'll contact the schools and tell them you're going for HPSP. He said a lot of schools sometimes will bump you above other people because the school finds it easier to receive funds this way through the military as opposed to working through financial aid. I'm not sure if that's even true, but I thought I'd pass along what was told.

That's standard recruiter's talk from an enlisted soldier that doesn't know jack about the admission process for medical schools. Saying that you're a reserve when you haven't done anything is lying. It's going to do more harm than good if one of your interviewers is prior service. I have gone on the interview trail and there's always one interviewer who's affiliated with the military in some way.

No, you don't want your talking point to be about the military when you haven't done anything related. That's digging your own grave.

 

[68PGunner]

@jwilliams1993 yeah I am! I've heard that too. And i guess they like it somewhat because it's helpful for their student diversity. Like on pamphlets they can say we have this percentage of military students or whatever. Lol. At the least it might be interesting for a talking point in interviews and something for them to read.

You can do whatever you want. However, I guarantee you that it's going to be 90% more harm than good. WTF do you want to talk about the military when you haven't done anything that's related to the military?

This is what's going to happen:

Interviewer: So, tell me about your experience in the Army Reserve.
You: Actually, I haven't served a single day in my life. I am planning to take the HPSP though.
Interviewer: awkward silence... jolt down some notes about falsifying status and write rejection.

 

[Asclepius293]

That's standard recruiter's talk from an enlisted soldier that doesn't know jack about the admission process for medical schools. Saying that you're a reserve when you haven't done anything is lying. It's going to do more harm than good if one of your interviewers is prior service. I have gone on the interview trail and there's always one interviewer who's affiliated with the military in some way.

No, you don't want your talking point to be about the military when you haven't done anything related. That's digging your own grave.

We aren't saying we'd put that we have military experience. We don't. Just that we plan on doing HPSP and what reasons besides money might have led to that choice. For example I have an interest in primary care and the military offers a lot of versatile options for that including flight surgery, dive medicine, and preventive medicine programs. It's not falsifying information and I doubt a prior service interviewer would be annoyed that you plan on HPSP.

 

[Asclepius293]

You can do whatever you want. However, I guarantee you that it's going to be 90% more harm than good. WTF do you want to talk about the military when you haven't done anything that's related to the military?

This is what's going to happen:

Interviewer: So, tell me about your experience in the Army Reserve.
You: Actually, I haven't served a single day in my life. I am planning to take the HPSP though.
Interviewer: awkward silence... jolt down some notes about falsifying status and write rejection.

I think you skipped over what we're trying to get at. I understand not to list any military experience or reserve status on the application. @jwilliams1993 and I were just saying that it might be worth it to mention HPSP in the personal statement if it makes sense in the overall narrative of what we want to do in medicine.

 

[68PGunner]

We aren't saying we'd put that we have military experience. We don't. Just that we plan on doing HPSP and what reasons besides money might have led to that choice.

First of all, you are assuming a lot of things without knowing your audience. As a prior service who had worked extensively with military docs, I guarantee that you will be negatively viewed by bringing up the military card when you haven't been in the water for a second. There are a lot of blood and sacrifices that go with military service. Talking about these general stuff without having experiencing them will not be viewed favorably by vets in general. Honestly, you sound fake when you talk about something that you have never experienced through your entire life. We're a very cynical group. What are you trying to achieve by bringing up the HPSP bullet point? Are you trying to get pity point in hope that it will push your application over the top? It won't happen. Everything that you want to talk about when the military card is brought up should be verified by your real experiences, not assumed experiences in the future. Finally, in the end, it's not guaranteed if you will take HPSP or that you will be selected for HPSP. What's your point of bringing this up in the first place? Do you want to spend 10 mins of your interviewer trying to convince the interviewer of your dubious intention? My advice is to omit the HPSP point from your application.

For example I have an interest in primary care and the military offers a lot of versatile options for that including flight surgery, dive medicine, and preventive medicine programs. It's not falsifying information and I doubt a prior service interviewer would be annoyed that you plan on HPSP.

LOL. These stuff sound like talking points from a recruiter. Trust me. You don't want these options, unless you don't want to practice medicine in the first place.

 

[68PGunner]

I think you skipped over what we're trying to get at. I understand not to list any military experience or reserve status on the application. @jwilliams1993 and I were just saying that it might be worth it to mention HPSP in the personal statement if it makes sense in the overall narrative of what we want to do in medicine.

No, I don't think you get my points.

This is what you wrote:

In the military status section, it asks for my anticipated military status at the time of enrollment. Since I plan on doing the HPSP program through the Navy, should I list member of reserve?

The answer is a big negative.

 

[Asclepius293]

No, I don't think you get my points.

This is what you wrote:
The answer is a big negative.

No we're saying we understand not to put our status as reserve. We understand not to say anything about prior or current military status because we have none. What we're saying is that on the personal statement we might mention an intent to do HPSP during med school. If military medicine is something you intend on doing, idk why it would be so negative to mention your intentions and aspirations in a personal statement.

 

[Asclepius293]

Also, I just want to apologize if it sounded fake or like I'm trying to pretend to have military experience. I'm not. If I mention it when applying, it's just to make my intentions known and I think it might be interesting for them to see my aspirations and why I have them. Thanks to everyone with military experience that took the time to give input and help.

 

[ortnakas]

I think you skipped over what we're trying to get at. I understand not to list any military experience or reserve status on the application. @jwilliams1993 and I were just saying that it might be worth it to mention HPSP in the personal statement if it makes sense in the overall narrative of what we want to do in medicine.

Don't list it in the "military experience" section of your application-- you don't have any military experience.

Don't put it in "anticipated status" because you aren't actually sure you're anticipating it yet (that's more for students who are already in armed forces and anticipate being in the reserves, etc). It's akin to saying you're an anticipated doctor when you're a medical student.

You can talk about it being part of your career plan in your personal statement, if you like.

 

[68PGunner]

No we're saying we understand not to put our status as reserve. We understand not to say anything about prior or current military status because we have none. What we're saying is that on the personal statement we might mention an intent to do HPSP during med school. If military medicine is something you intend on doing, idk why it wo uld be so negative to mention your intentions and aspirations in a personal statement.

This point can be brought up in your conclusion for one of USUHS's secondary essays. Bringing up HPSP in your personal statement is a no go.

Each medical school has its own mission. For a lot of schools, HPSP would contradict the school's mission, putting you in the rejection pile without any further consideration.

 

[ortnakas]

This point can be brought up in your conclusion for one of USUHS's secondary essays. Bringing up HPSP in your personal statement is a no go.

Each medical school has its own mission. For a lot of schools, HPSP would contradict the school's mission, putting you in the rejection pile without any further consideration.

This is a solid point (unless you are 100% sure you plan to pursue a military career, in which case ruling out schools incompatible with that from the get-go might not be the worst thing in the world).

 

[jwilliams1993]

I don't understand why you guys are losing your hats over this... like it's an online forum. You don't have to take anyone's advice. We've established one shouldn't list service on the app. If someone wants to say they'd like to be a military physician in their statement, it's really no different than someone being like "I shadowed an ER doc once and I know I want to work in emergency med". You can't use the "you haven't done it before so you don't know" reasoning when we're all applying to schools to practice stuff we've never practiced before. Like sheesh y'all.

 

[68PGunner]

I don't understand why you guys are losing your hats over this... like it's an online forum. You don't have to take anyone's advice. We've established one shouldn't list service on the app. If someone wants to say they'd like to be a military physician in their statement, it's really no different than someone being like "I shadowed an ER doc once and I know I want to work in emergency med". You can't use the "you haven't done it before so you don't know" reasoning when we're all applying to schools to practice stuff we've never practiced before. Like sheesh y'all.

There's a difference saying that I would like the practice military medicine vs I intend to take the HPSP, which would entail a military residency and four years of obligated service. The HPSP payback contradicts a lot of schools' missions which a lot of times is to alleviate physician shortage in the surrounding areas.

 

[j4pac]

This point can be brought up in your conclusion for one of USUHS's secondary essays. Bringing up HPSP in your personal statement is a no go.

Each medical school has its own mission. For a lot of schools, HPSP would contradict the school's mission, putting you in the rejection pile without any further consideration.

This is a very good point. Know your school's mission...that is probably the take home. Not to mention that not everyone likes military. I could actually plot my civilian residency invitations based on region...and it's astounding.

Back in the day, when I was applying to medical school, I was forthright with my desire to do military medicine it may have hurt my chances in some instances. I ended up interviewing with a Colonel in the Army Reserves who happened to be a school's clinical dean...and I ended up getting accepted. So...perhaps my desire to go military helped me in that instance. But it's not a blanket statement.