CAPTAINS SHIMUL PATEL, MARK HARDIN AND MAJOR KAREN CALLAGHAN

Maj. Callaghan: When I decided to go to medical school and I got the bill from my medical school part of their financial aid package mentioned the HPSP program so I started investigating.

Capt. Hardin: Being part of the HPSP program gave me the opportunity to have a little bit of additional income as a medical student. The program pays for of course your tuition and for your books.

Capt. Patel: I think the exciting part about doing this in the military is there is just opportunities that your civilian counterparts don’t get. For example after my internship I was able to go do a tour as a flight surgeon allowing myself to get to know soldiers a little bit better to get to know the population I’d b treating a little bit better as a surgeon and you just can’t do that in the civilian side.

Maj. Callaghan: Being a military provider certainly allows you to practice medicine the way that you should practice medicine.

Capt. Hardin: The ability to take care of your patient and not worry about his insurance and whether or not you’re going to get reimbursed it’s a great problem not to have.

Maj. Callaghan: You’re ordering tests that you believe are necessary and you’re not having to justify each and every request that you make to an insurance company.

Capt. Patel: You’re free from that burden and really the only thing that matters is the patient you’re taking care of. Practicing medicine in a military hospital allows you to take care of your patient completely, I think, cause you have so much available to you and you can focus on your patient. What would keep me in the military after ten years is the people that I work with and the people I take care of. It all, everything comes back to the unique population you work with, some of whom have given so much for their country and I don’t think that there’s anything better than taking care of those individuals.