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I was given information from my financial aid office about applying for the Navy HSCP.  For those of you who applied and/or were accepted into this program, are you glad that you did it?  Are there any pros and cons you can report from your time in active duty?  Pros and cons of practicing as a PA in the Navy, being an officer, or of your respective duty stations?

 

I've read some posts about the salary, the acceptance rates, the fact that recruiters are hard to get in touch with, etc. etc.  I'm actually surprised by the lack of communication from the recruiters - I am prior-enlisted in the Army and have been out of the military since 2008, and I cannot get the recruiters to leave me alone still!

 

Please let me know any experiences and tips you are willing to share.  Thank you!

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Regular recruiters are hard to get away from, but medical recruiters have people come to them. They have no trouble meeting quotas.

 

Haven't started my obligation time yet, but I have no regrets and love being in HSCP. Still have to take loans because my school is expensive. I do have plenty of money for me and my family though. Loving my tricare insurance.

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Thank you for your feedback. Did you find the application process/selection process to be quite competitive and difficult?

 

Where are you in school at? Mine is going to be very expensive as well.

I can't say it FELT competitive, but I was one of 10 to receive it. I suppose it is competitive, but it is rolling admissions, so the sooner you get your app in the better. You get "recommended" for selection. So they can recommend 100, but after the 10 slots are gone you have no hope unless someone drops out last minute deciding not to sign the papers. This year they have 15 slots.

 

The process is long, not necessarily difficult. I had an awesome recruiter who was always on the ball. Definitely took his job seriously. Getting a security check, military entrance physical scheduled, 2 interviews with officers scheduled and done, plus any documentation of medical treatments you've had, takes time. Both the paper work and the recruiter finding time to get you in for these things. Start early if you want it. My recruiter ran into a problem with the second interview. Officer would never get back with us. So after 2 weeks he gave up and got someone else the next day to call me and do my interview. Security check took me about a week to finish because I would have to get all this information from relatives, track down employer addresses from stores that had closed, ect. It takes them a few weeks to even process it before you can move forward.

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Metallicat:  Do you like your scope of practice in the military?  I am prior-enlisted, and even with my enlisted job in the Army, I had a MUCH broader scope of practice (mental health specialist) than I did in the civilian sector.  Also, are you able to work in different areas of medicine in the Navy?  Do you get to request what areas you practice in? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm satisfied with my scope of practice. Otherwise I wouldn't be staying in.  The Navy has fellowships in Emergency Med and Ortho you can apply for.  PAs are starting fill flight surgeon billets too. Working in Family Med you are going to see Peds too. Operationally there are billets with the Marines, Special Warfare and Carriers. Being in a Infantry Battalion currently, I do have to protect against some skill atrophy as I see a lot of the same things over and over (back pain, knee pain, and ankle pain). 

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  • 1 month later...

Hi - I am applying for HSCP and was wondering if anyone knows if the benefits include a move paid for by the military to the school I will going to. Since I would be on active duty and receiving full benefits, it seems like it would be covered. However, I'm having trouble finding someone who can answer my question. Thanks.

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Hi - I am applying for HSCP and was wondering if anyone knows if the benefits include a move paid for by the military to the school I will going to. Since I would be on active duty and receiving full benefits, it seems like it would be covered. However, I'm having trouble finding someone who can answer my question. Thanks.

I doubt it. I wasn't paid, but a healthcare recruiter could answer this question. I did deduct the move off my taxes since going to school in that area was a requirement of my "job."
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Thanks for the feedback. Where did you find that in the instruction? I read through the entire set that I have and did not see that. However, I did find the following:

 

"These individuals are entitled to all benefits and privileges commensurate with their paygrade and are required to

fulfill all obligations of this instruction and their Service Agreement, with the exception of wearing uniforms and adhering
to military grooming standards."
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  • 3 weeks later...

Regular recruiters are hard to get away from, but medical recruiters have people come to them. They have no trouble meeting quotas.

 

Haven't started my obligation time yet, but I have no regrets and love being in HSCP. Still have to take loans because my school is expensive. I do have plenty of money for me and my family though. Loving my tricare insurance.

do you remember what you have to score on the asvab to qualify or how do you qualify?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Does anyone know what a competitive profile for the HSCP program looks like? for those of you who have gotten accepted; 1. how early did you apply, 2. what was your profile as far as GPA and recommendations etc? When your application is up for review is that good? How long does it usually take to review your app before it goes to the boards?

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  • 2 months later...

Currently applying to HSCP while still on active duty...So far it has been an easy ride. My conditional letter of release is making its way to my CO. If anyone has gone through this similar route and can offer any advise it would be much appreciated! Hopefully a pending acceptance to PA school wont damper my chances. My recruiter wants to send my package off in October and reassures me that I am a very competitive applicant.... However, interviews for the schools I have applied to wont come until around the end of the year(some earlier) and acceptance (hopefully) soon thereafter. Is there such a thing as a conditional acceptance upon being accepted to PA school? Thanks for any help provided!

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No, you must have a letter of acceptance before your package will Ben sent to the board, you can have everything done but it will not be released to the board for review without a letter of acceptance and academic plan. Also make sure your commissioning physical is squared away and released by Millington.

 

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I have been a corpsman for 8 years...0000 for two and a surgical/urology tech (8483/8486) for 6 years... My undergrad is in psychology with an over gpa of 3.74...Caspa is the same with a science gpa of 3.62... I applied to five schools...Pacific,Utah,Drexel, A.T Still, and Western Michigan. Completed three supplemental applications so far and am now waiting patiently.(Not really!!) Lol

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I am at Pacific now and loving it.  Have you looked at GW, Duke, and MedEx?  All look favorably on military exp.  I chose Pacific over them, but all great programs in their own right.  AT Still is working out kinks as they replaced most of their faculty after the probation issue.  Drexel is solid if you want to focus the rotations in an area of practice, I cant speak to Utah and Western Mi.

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I looked at MedEx and should have applied there but didnt... I have heard of A.T Still having problems, but I think they will works things out.. I choose that school because it is one of the few osteopathic pa schools... Either way, Pacific from what I hear is very good...My mentor went to Oregon and he keeps on trying to steal me away from the Navy and come work for him in his urology practice so I researched Pacific and found that they were a really good school so I have applied and they r a top choice...especially since I live in California at the moment. ...We shall see... Applying early is good, but the waiting game is gonna kill me..Did u get into HSCP by the way?

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

 

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You still can apply to MedEx, it is still very early in the cycle. As for HSCP, yes, I jumped through the hoops to get accepted. After weighing my acceptance options I decided that I needed a break from the Navy and could reconsider after I graduated. Since you still have to pay tuition with HSCP my net gain was only 25k a year for a three year active commitment vs a 60k post grad sign on bonus for a three year reserve commitment. The numbers just did not make sense for my family. So I jumped through the hoops to get a educational early release and recently started at Pacific with no regrets. As a side note, if you attend MedEx or Pacific and live in WA you can collect unemployment benefits for the entire length of the program if HSCP does not work out.

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Nice!! This is some good info. It seems that I am taking your same route...I still have two years on my active contract...so I requested a conditional release upon acceptance to HSCP... I hope all the timelines match for me to have a smooth transition into PA school...I do not want to stay in if accepted to PA school at all HSCP or not. Did u get a release just to go to school? I may have to do this as a last result if the HSCP timeline for some reason doesn't work out...I also am considering the active duty MSCIPP program, but they are really slacking on putting out Navadmins (should have been out months ago!)..Either way you look at it I want begin PA school next year and I will take the first option that is afforded to me.

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

 

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