JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Naval Flight Surgeon and Dermatologist Dr. (Lt. Cmdr.) Josephine Nguyen has a message for medical students: Consider the U.S. Navy's Health Professions Scholarship Program.
The Navy Health Professions Scholarship Program is an outstanding way to pay for medical school and to ensure immediate employment following graduation.
The program covers 100% of tuition during medical school, a sign-on bonus of up to $20,000 and a monthly stipend of $2,157. No previous military experience is required, although applicants must be physically qualified and otherwise eligible to serve in the Navy and be accepted to an accredited medical school. Acceptance of the scholarship obligates the student to serve on active duty for four years as a licensed physician. The four years may be served as a general medical officer immediately after completing internship, or may be deferred until completion of specialty training.
Nguyen's career is a great example of the opportunities available to physicians serving in the Navy. Graduating second in her class from the Naval Academy in 1999, Nguyen was awarded a Navy Health Professions Scholarship. She received her Doctor of Medicine from Stanford School of Medicine in 2003. Following a transitional internship at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, she attended flight surgery training in Pensacola, Fla. , served as a flight surgeon with Carrier Air Wing 5 in Atsugi, Japan, was accepted to a dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed her residency in 2010. She currently sees patients at the Naval Academy and Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., and is an Assistant Professor of Dermatology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
In addition to her clinical duties, Nguyen oversees the Navy Health Professions Scholarship Program and helps organize the Navy's recruiting efforts for this program across the United States.
"People choose to be doctors because of their desire to serve and help others," said Nguyen. "I chose to be a physician because of my love for people and my desire to alleviate suffering. Being a Navy physician has allowed me to fulfill my calling but also it has allowed me to contribute to and affect medicine in a way I never would have imagined."
Navy medicine has a lot to offer: expert guidance and assistance, excellent training, leadership and management skills, financial stability and an impressive benefits package that could include educational opportunities and incentives, loan repayment assistance, specialty pay, travel and more.
For more information on Navy Health Professions Scholarship Program, visit
www.navy.com/careers/healthcare/physician.
For more information on Navy Medicine, visit
www.med.navy.mil.