What is the Health Professions Scholarship Program?

For many students, financial aid is what allows them to pursue dental school. This is true for Emily Bone, a second-year student at the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine.

Ms. Bone first discovered how expensive dental school was during the application process. She began looking into financial assistance programs and quickly found the Health Professions Scholarship Program, which offers two-, three- and four-year military scholarships to help cover graduate school tuition.

“When I found out I could fulfill my dreams of being a dentist while serving and giving back to our country, I knew that was for sure the route I wanted to apply for,” Ms. Bone said.

The application was lengthy; it included medical exams, medical records, letters of recommendation and various interviews. Ms. Bone’s individual process took more than one year, but after being selected, she said it was all worth it in the end. She was one of nine in her year to receive the full-ride, four-year tuition to dental school through the Air Force.

The program is structured such that each year of paid tuition is exchanged for a service commitment to the military. Upon graduation, Ms. Bone will fulfill four years of active duty as a dentist on a base, as she’s on a four-year scholarship.  

Ms. Bone is on track to specialize in prosthodontics and plans to eventually apply for the prosthodontics residency on the San Antonio Lackland Air Force base. She encouraged those interested in the Health Professions Scholarship Program to consider whether they’re willing to be stationed at different bases across the U.S. While students can list their preferences, they don’t necessarily have full say, and there is an element of not knowing where they will end up.

“I knew that I was open to the idea of traveling around the first few years out of dental school,” Ms. Bone said. “[With] plans for the future, I like knowing where I’m going over the next few years. While I don’t exactly know where I’ll be stationed, I know that for the next four years I know where I’ll be.”