Session 151 Our student today is interested in HPSP or Public Health Services but wants to know what a day in the life of a military doc is like. We answer her questions. Your questions answered here are taken from the Nontrad Premed Forum. If you don't have an account yet, sign up for free! Join an amazing community of nontrad students. This podcast is part of the MedEd Media Network. Be sure to check out all our other podcasts as you try to move along this journey towards becoming a physician. [01:05] OldPreMeds Question of the Week: "I am a non-trad, with a couple years of experience as an assistive technology entrepreneur and hospital project manager. I started a post-bac pre-med program this year and on a track to take the MCATs and apply in 2020. I have been doing more research on medical schools, trying to balance pre-requisites and work. Listening to Dr. Grey’s podcasts I have learned a lot about how to prepare for medical school and after. This podcast has brought me both a lot of peace of mind as I listen to it on my commute to class and to work. With that being said there are a few areas I have specific questions. HPSP – I most recently learned about the Military Medicine program through the podcasts and am highly considering it. A few reasons this interests me: (a) I would love to give back through the medical work that I do, one of my interests as a designer was low-cost prosthetics and other medical devices, (b) different/lack of insurance regulations (c) opportunities to participate in medical research with the DOD and foreign governments. I am trying to shadow at the local Navy hospital and my pre-med advisor is helping get me in contact with a recruiter. Does anyone have suggestions as to how I can learn what the day-in-the-life of a military doctor is like? What is the work-life balance like or the possibility of having a family (I am a woman and would one day want kids – I’ll be in my 30’s when I finish residency)? Are there more opportunities to get involved with research? What are the possibilities of getting into pediatrics or a peds specialty (like pediatric neurology) offered through military residencies? I know my interests might change in med school but from the shadowing I have done, something with peds or adolescents is interesting to me and I don’t want to close that door. USPHS – How is this different from HPSP and what are the requirements, processes involved? Is this only for primary care? Clinical Experience – Are there clinical experience (paid, because I need to put food on the table) opportunities as a pre-med that might be able to give me more insight to military medicine or public health service?" [03:25] What is HPSP? HPSP stands for the Health Professions Scholarship Program. It's the program I used to go through medical school. When I got my acceptance, I went to the Air Force and signed up for scholarship and was awarded. Then I bid my time afterward. I'm a huge advocate and evangelist for HPSP as long as you know what the risks and benefits are. One of the risks is that you are owned by the military and they may not want you to do the specialty that you want to do. They're never going to force you to do a specialty outside of what you want to do, but they'll tell maybe tell you no to the specialty you want to do. In that case, you'll have to be a general medical officer. You'll do your internship year and be a brigade surgeon, flight surgeon, a GMO family practice doctor, or whatever that may be depending on the branch you are involved in. On the other hand, one huge benefit of HPSP is that you won't have any debt. The average debt is $170,000 and to come out of it without any debt is great! But you shouldn't want to do it for the money. "HPSP has a lot of risks. It has obviously a lot of upsides. You graduate medical school with basically no debt." [04:55] How to Do Shadowing in the Military Shadowing in the military is going to be a lot harder. Not only are you dealing with HIPAA b