You are correct on the payback you mentioned above. However, most schools that pay you or pay part of your tuition, either don't pay you when you are on AFIT scholarships or they pay the money directly to AFIT because you school and your salary are paid by the AF. So you still owe 6 years.
I appreciate your kind words. I do love the AF and I enjoy answering your questions. When I came in, no one answered questions for young officers, much less HPSP students. I'm glad the AF has evolved to helping out.
Thanks so much!! I have a handful of other follow-up questions, but these should be my last for a while!
1. Just to clarify: imagine you do a 4 year civilian residency program because you don't get accepted to Travis or Lackland, and the civilian program pays $40,000 a year for each of the 4 years. That money will get paid to AFIT and AFIT will then be the one that actually directly pays your salary. Thus, in this circumstance, the Air Force gets a bit of break in the sense that they aren't paying your salary "out of pocket" but you still owe 4 CONSECUTIVE years post-HPSP payback because you trained in a civilian institution. Am I correct on this?
2. Also, based on the HPSP newsletter that came out recently, it doesn't seem any 2nd Lt got one of the 6 spots for OMFS in Travis or Lackland this year. Is that what usually happens? Are there consistently a group of 2 Lt that enter civilian institutions through AFIT each year because there are only 6 spots within the Air Force?
3. I assume the AF fills all 6 OMFS training spots each year, regardless of need, simply because the infrastructure and faculty to train 6 surgeons already exists and would be wasted if not utilized. However, I could understand them not allowing any civilian training through AFIT for a given year if the OMFS need is full. Am I correct on this?
4. How common is educational deferment (which I understand is when you pay for your own residency training and don't incur additional commitment for it)? Is there consistently a group of people who get education deferment? Or is it rare and done only for unique circumstances?
5. The biggest fear my wife and I have about staying with the Air Force long term is getting moved around a lot. I'm wondering if you have any insight into this. How often do dentists move around in the Air Force? Is it every few years like it is for some pilots?
6. Are there job opportunities for Air Force spouses in the case that we do get moved around often? I imagine a lot of military spouses have a hard time finding a new job every few years.
7. I got the contact info for the OMFS Consultant from someone I talked to in the HPSP office. However, I'm not totally sure what sorts of questions I can ask him. Is he a mentor for students who are interested in pursuing OMFS--can I ask him about ways to be competitive? Or does he mostly serve to answer the logistical questions I'm asking on this forum? I'm not sure if it's appropriate to reach out to him to build a relationship.
Thanks again for everything you do to empower young officers with knowledge about their future in the Air Force!! And for helping answer the questions of students trying to determine if it's right for them. Personally, I know I absolutely wouldn't have accepted my HPSP Scholarship in 2011 if it wasn't for you answering all of my questions on SDN.