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The commitment for HPSP is one year of service for each year of scholarship (up to four years). Years in residency and fellowship do not count towards the payback period. Each branch of service has the main residency programs and also a majority of sub-specialty fellowship training. In 2020, our military graduates went into emergency medicine (n=2), family medicine (n=2), general surgery (n=2), internal medicine (n=1), pediatrics (n=1), psychiatry (n=1), and transitional-year (n=1).
During their careers, our graduates have a wide range of jobs within the military. In addition to working in a hospital or clinic providing care for their primary specialty, many will serve additional duties and tours of assignments that are essential for the medical readiness of our military. Many will do an operational assignment where they work directly with an operational unit providing care directly to service members to support the planning and execution of missions. Others will deploy with military field hospitals to support combat operations throughout the World. And, some will even go on to command and lead units in addition to maintaining their skills as a physician or surgeon.
There are many notable examples of military osteopaths including Ret. Army Colonel Kevin O’Connor, D.O. who currently serves as the physician to The President of the United States. He had a distinguished 22-year military career which included being awarded the Combat Medic Badge and inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit.3 J.D. Polk, DO, a retired Air Force flight surgeon and former dean for Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, serves as NASA’s chief health and medical officer leading preparations to bring a human to Mars.4 Ret. Major General Philip Volpe, DO served with the U.S. Army for over 30 years with multiple command roles and deployments.5 He earned a Purple Heart and the Defense Superior Service Medal and served as a task force ranger surgeon in Somalia in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, also known as Black Hawk Down. Robert Blanck, DO spent three decades with the U.S. Army culminating as the Army’s Surgeon General and Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command.6
For the past 43 years, the Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (AMOPS) has supported and represented more than 150,000 military physicians and students.7 AMOPS is the 13th largest divisional society in the osteopathic profession. They also have 34 student chapter including an active club at UNECOM. If you are currently serving in the military or as a veteran, THANK YOU for your service. We encourage you to join the UNECOM HPSP Students/Physicians Facebook group for fellowship and mentoring opportunities with current and former military students. <>
References:
2. Health Professions Scholarship Program. Military Benefits Info [Web Page]. Available at: https://militarybenefits.info/hpsp/. Accessed October 29, 2021.
3. Kevin O'Connor: Box: New York Tech. Kevin O'Connor | Box | New York Tech. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2021, from https://www.nyit.edu/box/profiles/kevin_oconnor.
4. Petersen VM. NASA’s top doc: DO oversees the health of astronauts, preps for Mars mission. The DO. Available at: https://thedo.osteopathic.org/2016/12/nasas-top-doc-do-oversees-the-health-of-astronauts-preps-for-mars-mission/. Accessed November 2, 2021.
5. Kansas City University. Esteemed Veterans in Medicine: KCU Military Professor Applauds Colleague Appointed as White House Physician [Web Page]. Available at: http://kansascity.edu/blog/awards-and-recognition/kcu-military-professor-applauds-colleague-appointed-as-wh-physician. Accessed November 2, 2021.
6. The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. 50 Heroes: Dr. Ronald Blanck [Web Page]. Available at: https://www.unthsc.edu/newsroom/story/50-heroes-dr-ronald-blanck/. Accessed November 2, 2021.
7. The Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons [Home Page]. Available at: https://amops.org/. Accessed November 2, 2021.