Health Professions Scholarship Program

The Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) is a program of the United States Army, United States Navy, and United States Air Force (AFHPSP), which offers full financial support in exchange for future service as a physician, dentist, nurse practitioner, optometrist, or other specialty.

Created under authority of the Uniformed Services Health Professions Revitalization Act of 1972, the HPSP is the primary source of trained health care professionals entering the United States Armed Forces (the key secondary source being the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, or USUHS). Following verification of eligibility for a commission (including, among other things, citizenship, physical, and academic qualifications), the scholarship winner ("selectee") is commissioned as either a Second Lieutenant, United States Army Reserve or Air Force Reserve, or Ensign, United States Navy Reserve. The new officer is then immediately placed on inactive reserve status while under training at medical school. During this training, the financial burden for all tuition, fees, health insurance, and mandatory books and equipment are placed on the student's respective service, a burden that has been estimated to be as much as $250,000. The Air Force offers three- and four-year scholarships, while the Army offers one- to four-year scholarships.

In exchange, the student, (as a military reservist) is required by law to serve 45 days active duty each fiscal year. While on active duty, the officer receives all rights, privileges, and pay due to their rank and is subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This duty, in the first two years of training, is usually comprised either of attending the service's officer training school (Army, Navy, Air Force) or executing "School Orders" at the student's university. During the 3rd and 4th years, however, the student is expected to carry out elective clinical rotations at a service hospital.

Upon graduation, the student is promoted two ranks, to Captain in the Army and Air Force or Lieutenant in the Navy, and is recalled to active duty for postgraduate training in a service hospital, or, alternatively a civilian residency program. In general, Army and Air Force physicians-in-training are allowed to complete an entire residency program before proceeding to their follow-on assignment, while Navy personnel generally complete an internship and them serve as a GMO (general medical officer), with the option of completing a residency following their GMO tour. The service obligation incurred, which is paid back after postgraduate training, is generally one year for every year of medical school sponsored, with a minimum of two years service required. There are some exceptions to this depending on the length of postgraduate training (longer residency programs can mean a longer service obligation), but time spent as a GMO does count towards the service obligation.

It is useful to note that there is no HPSP for the United States Marine Corps. As with other support aspects to the Corps, medical staff are supplied by the Navy.