What is the Health Professions Scholarship Program?

The HPSP program is a payment exchange between you as a future dental student and one branch of service in the United States military.  An applicant applies to a particular branch and if granted the scholarship, that student gets all tuition, books, and fees for the dental school of the applicant’s choice paid for.  Additionally, the recipient receives a one-time $2o,000 sign on bonus and a $2,100 monthly stipend while in school.  In return the recipient owes that branch of service four years of active duty and four years of inactive reserve following dental school.  Each recipient is required to do an Officer’s Basic Course (OBC) one summer before, during, or immediately after dental school.  The Army and Air Force OBC camps are in Texas and the Navy’s is in Rhode Island.  During the active duty period each dentist is an O-3 rank and will receive additional pay that totals around $75k-80k on average.  Additionally, each recipient is required to apply for an AEGD advanced dental training program following dental school.  This program is optional if admitted, and attendance to the program doesn’t add addtional years of service.  For specializing, each residency is through that branch of service and can be applied for during dental school and will be paid concurrently if admitted immediately out of dental school.  So an oral surgeon will be active duty for his four years of residency, four years of service as an oral surgeon, and will be inactive reserve for four years.  For further questions ask one of the officers of the club or your recruiter.  

 

United States Army

The Army issues the largest number of scholarships at around 65 per year.  To apply an applicant must have a mimimum GPA of a 3.5 and a DAT AA of 19 or file for a waiver.  Typical recipient statistics are about a 3.6 GPA and a 19.5 AA.  The Army does rolling admissions that begin with the first round of admissions or “boards” the first week in October of the year before you matriculate to dental school.  This means Army applicants specifically may know if they have received the scholarship before the December 1st acceptance date if they applied at the October deadline.   Therefore, the club highly encourages applicants to initiate contact with the recruiter in April of the year before you matriculate to dental school especially if you have had major medical surgeries or injuries.  There are numerous documents to be completed between April and the first board so its important to be persistent with the recruiter and not fall behind on paperwork. Four letters of recommendation (2 supervisors & 2 peers) are also required so it is important to have those in mind early.  In addition to documentation each applicant must attend the military entrance processing station (MEPS) to receive a thorough physical.  If applying through the Virginia Tech associated recruiter this will be in Beckley, West Virginia.  The US  Army HPSP recruiter for Virginia Tech is Amanda Rollins (email: amanda.d.rollins2.mil@mail.mil).

 

United States Navy

The Navy issues the second largest number of scholarships at around 50 per year.  To apply an applicant must have a mimimum GPA of a 3.5 and a DAT AA of 19 or file for a waiver.  Typical recipient statistics are about a 3.7 GPA and a 20.5 AA.  The Navy has a similar structure to the application process as the Army, except for two major differences.  The Navy requires an interview with a medical corps officer as a part of it applicant review process and the Navy’s first board date is mid-January of the year you matriculate to dental school (after the December 1st admissions date). The US Navy HPSP recruiter is LCDR Shannon E. Conklin (email: shannon.e.conklin.mil@mail.mil).

 

United States Air Force

The Air Force issues the least number of scholarships at around 15 per year.  To apply an applicant must have a mimimum GPA of a 3.5 and a DAT AA of 19 or file for a waiver.  Typical recipient statistics are about a 3.8 GPA and a 23 AA making it extremely selective.  The Air Force has similar strucutre to the Navy in that it requires and interview component to its selection process.  The tricky thing about the Air Force is that its first admission board is in March.  The difficult thing about March is that the rolling admissions with the Army and the Navy means that all the scholarships for those branches will be gone, so applying to the Air Force means you put all your eggs in one basket in addition to the high selection standards.  The club doesn’t have a direct Air Force contact, but the recruiting station at New River Mall will provide the HPSP recruiter’s contact information.