How to Pay For Medical School Part 3: Scholarships

Most medical school students don’t realize that there is free scholarship money up for grabs if you’re willing to do a little extra work to find it.

Medical school scholarships can award you anywhere from a few hundred dollars, a few thousand, and all the way up to the entire cost of medical school ($200k or more!).

For the complete list of the ways to go to medical school for free, read “How to Go to Medical School For Free.”

Scholarships that award smaller amounts of money have few or no strings attached, but scholarships that offer big money usually require that you commit to structured employment for a few years after medical school.

Medical school scholarships

Military Scholarships
Here’s the deal that the US Military offers in their Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP): Get accepted to medical school and join the military. If you are awarded the HPSP, the entire bill is on them!

If you land the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), the military will pay for your entire medical school education at a private or public medical school, pay you a $20,000 signing bonus, and pay you a $2,000/month stipend. Some people call it “military medical school,” and there are HPSP scholarships programs for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

What’s the catch? You have to commit one year of military service for each year you receive HPSP scholarship money. So if you go to medical school for five years, you have to serve in the military for five additional years after you graduate from med school.

The US Military HPSP is one of the six ways to go to medical school for free that I discuss in “How to Go to Medical School For Free.” Check out the link to find the complete list!

Medical School Scholarships
After you are accepted to medical school, you are required to complete a FAFSA and fill out a financial aid application for your school. Your medical school will then tell you whether you are eligible for scholarship money. Because you are required to complete a financial aid application for your school, you do not have to seek out these scholarships on your own or complete any additional essays.

Medical schools scholarships are typically reserved for students who demonstrate academic excellence, so unless you’re at the top of your entering class, don’t expect a big payday.

Local Scholarships
Not all medical school scholarships are awarded by governments and medical schools. Other service-oriented local organizations have extra cash on hand that they use to promote education within the community, and medical school students are often the preferred recipients for scholarship money.

Local governments agencies like the Chamber of Commerce and City Council award scholarships to qualified medical school students, typically those who come from a disadvantaged or minority background. Scholarships awarded by local government agencies are typically only for a few thousand dollars, but if you fit the profile for one of these scholarships it’s easy money you can’t pass up.

You can find more information about City Council and Chamber of Commerce medical school scholarships by directly contacting those agencies.

Private service organizations also award scholarships to medical school students, typically students from a disadvantaged background or those who have demonstrated academic excellence. If you’re willing to fill out the application and write an essay, you might be eligible for a free money.

Contact your local Rotary Club, Elks Lodge, or other national service organizations to find out more about the scholarships they offer.

While you’re researching medical school scholarships and loans, include “How to Go to Medical School For Free” in your reading list. You could discover a way to get a free ride to med school!