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By
Erick M. Santos, MD/PhD
Obtaining a full scholarship to attend medical school without strings attached is quite rare but they do exist. To obtain one you have to have very high scores and really impress the admissions committee at that medical school. More likely if you want to obtain a scholarship, you will need to sign papers that will obligate you to pay back with your services after you obtain the MD degree. Most students opt to take out loans which the medical school will help you with, so do not feel that you have to sign part of your life away in order to pay for your medical education. I joined the U.S. Air Force Health Professions Scholarship Program in 1990 under their four year scholarship plan. This meant that I was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserves, and I signed a contract to serve with them for four years after I obtained my MD. The scholarship paid for four years of medical school tuition, a stipend (somewhere between $800-$900/month), and books. You spend summers with them, either in officer training or other activities (I did a summer of aerospace medicine training in Brooks AFB, San Antonio TX, which was a lot of fun) and also do a couple of medical school elective rotations in military hospitals. I think the whole deal is worth it, but you have to know what you are getting into. Don't trust everything the recruiter says and make sure you speak to one or two people currently in the program before entering into it. I am now officially on a leave of absence from the program to pursue my Ph.D., but leaves are rarely granted (this one took a three star general to get).
Time spent in residency does not count towards paying back your owed time. The Army and the Navy are even tougher than the Air force in terms of granting civilian residency deferments, and most of the time you end up doing a military internship and serving as a general medical officer for your 3 or 4 years of pay back time. If you don't mind traveling where the military sends you then it is a great life, but also consider the effects the military way of life would have on your significant other. There are no guarantees when dealing with the military and you can be called into active duty at any time, even if you have an MD and a Ph.D.
All three services have a medical school: the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), in Bethesda Maryland, through which you
serve in active duty during medical school (with full pay in benefits) and agree
to pay back seven years as an MD after graduation. Consider this if you are thinking
about a career in the military (you can retire in 20 years at half pay). With all
routes, you end up commissioned as an O-3 (captain in the Army or Air Force).
Other routes not in the military, include the Public Health Service and the Indian
Health Service, in which you agree to work in underserved areas in a primary care field after your residency. These programs also have excellent loan repayment programs
which give you more flexibility in arranging a site to practice in after residency.
Additional Information:
Financial Aid: FAFSA Express http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/express.html
American Association of Medical Colleges: http://www.aamc.org