By Dr. Matthew McDougall, Guest Writer
Like all areas of the military, the Army National Guard (ANG) needs doctors. I'm sure you've seen the commercials for the Guard before—one weekend a month and two weeks a year. Plus, you get deployed from time to time but are limited to 90 days “boots on ground” (plus 30 days for in/out-processing) which is far less time than many active duty and reservist doctors do. These deployments can be as frequent as every 2 years, but are generally every 3-5 years. You're a part-time soldier, and when you're a doctor joining, you're a part-time military doctor with all of its pluses and minuses. Just like the active duty military, the Guard does not deploy medical students or residents.
The National Guard has a Flexible Training Policy that only requires medical professionals to drill at their unit of assignment six times in any calendar year. Remaining drill time can be spent split-training in suitable career oriented activities (call, research, study, presentations, etc.). This policy is up to the unit commander's discretion, but many medical commanders understand the rigor and time commitment involved with medical school, residency and practice. In addition to being flexible with training, they often allow ample time to study while drilling at the unit of assignment.
You will drill with a National Guard unit near your medical school, residency training program, and practice. State to state transfers are, for the most part, efficient. If you’re planning on moving from California to New York, you’ll find a home in both locations. Many residency programs, future employers, and your community will look favorably upon you because you have proven service beyond medical school and residency. You have also demonstrated a selflessness that is essential to becoming a valued physician.
If you are a medical student, you will not be told to apply for a specific specialty. You will enter the CIVILIAN residency match and will match at a CIVILIAN program. Once out of residency, you will work in a CIVILIAN job. Therefore, you can take advantage of CIVILIAN bonuses and practice options. If you join the ANG as a medical student and match into a specialty not on the list, then you will serve your commitment with the Reserve, instead of the Guard.
Anyone who does not have prior service in the military, must sign an “original” eight year contractual agreement. The time in this agreement can be served in the active duty forces, the Reserve component, or the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). The Army National Guard uses a “six and two” model, meaning that soldiers need to be in active drilling status for six years before they can join the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). Troops in the IRR are not obligated to drill, or “serve,” unless called to action by the president. They essentially go about their life with little connection to the military. [Founder's Note: This is different from the active duty, where you generally commit to a 4 year period of active duty and 4 years in the IRR.]
Eligible Medical Specialties in the Army National Guard
The ANG is interested in a broad range of specialties, but not all of them. It designates its desired specialists via a “critical skill shortage list” and includes General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Practice, Emergency Medicine, Neurology, and the subspecialties of these fields.
Benefits of Joining the Army National Guard for Doctors
The Army National Guard provides a combination of state and Federal incentives. Federal incentives are standard from state to state and are even mirrored by other branches of the Reserve component. These incentives include:
- Student loan repayment of up to $240,000 (Only pays for medical school loans)
- Stipends of more than $2,100 a month while in medical school and residency
- Yearly bonuses of up to $25,000 for board eligible and board certified physicians.
- Montgomery G. I. Bill: $350/month tax free for 36 months during school or training
- Monthly drill check of at least $400 as a medical student, $600 as a resident, and $800 as an attending—increases with promotions and additional time in service
- Reimbursement for medical licensing exams
- Paid externships at military facilities
- Up to 5 days of paid CME (up to $2,500 reimbursement plus pay and benefits)
- Access to Tri-Care Reserve Select Health Insurance: $50/month for you, $200/month for the whole family
- State incentives vary but can include automatic state residency at your medical school or state tuition assistance which may cover up to your entire tuition (such as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)
- Other benefits include an opportunity to travel abroad and do relief work, additional military specific training, mentorship opportunities, leadership opportunities, and optional but exclusive military opportunities such as military teams, combatives training, and flight surgeon training
Medical and Dental Student Stipend Program
The program for medical students is called Medical and Dental Student Stipend Program (MDSSP) and pays $2,100 a month in return for a 2 for 1 commitment. So if they pay you for 4 years, you owe them 8 years after residency.
Specialized Training Assistance Program
The program for residents is called Specialized Training Assistance Program (STRAP) and pays residents the same $2,100 a month as the MDSSP. Resident physicians qualify if their chosen specialty is on the Critical Skills Shortage List. Like the MDSSP, taking this incentive obligates a resident to two years of duty for every one year of incentive, payable after the completion of residency. However, if you take STRAP with an equal or lesser amount of MDSSP, the MDSSP obligation drops to a one to one commitment, and the STRAP obligation is made payable upon completion of the MDSSP obligation. So if you get paid for 4 years of med school and 4 years of residency, you'll only owe 12 years on drill status, not 16.
Health Professions Loan Repayment Program
The Health Professions Loan Repayment Program (HPLRP) pays up to $240,000 in medical school loans. Loans are paid in yearly $40,000 increments for up to six years or until medical school loans are exhausted. Board certified, board eligible and resident physicians all qualify if their chosen specialty is on the Critical Skills Shortage List. The HPLRP incurs a one to one obligation; the obligation for HPLRP is paid in the year that it is taken. Taking this incentive obligates a board eligible, board certified physician to one year of duty for every one year of incentive, payable in the year that the incentive is awarded.
Residents who take HPLRP must take it in conjunction with STRAP and they can only take it after completing the second year of residency (PGY2). If a resident elected to take STRAP with HPLRP at the start of PGY3, the resident would be need to fulfill both the STRAP and HPLRP obligation. The obligation for the HPLRP would be paid in the year that it is taken and STRAP payback would begin after the HPLRP is exhausted or upon graduation from residency, whichever comes last. So if you had the Guard pay for 4 years of med school, 4 years of residency, and pay back $160,000 in medical student loans, then your total obligation would be 16 years on drill status.
Look who showed up at WCICON 10 years after writing this post. Huge thanks to Matt for continuing to answer all of your questions in the comments section for the last decade!
Bonuses
Yearly bonuses of up to $25,000 if not fulfilling an obligation for a different incentive program such as MDSSP, STRAP, or HPLRP. This bonus payment is $25,000/year if contracted for three consecutive years, $20,000 for two consecutive years, and $15,000 for one year. Again, specialties must be on the Critical Skills Shortage List. Under current policy, you can only take three years of bonus. The bonus can be contracted at the same time as HPLRP, but payments are made consecutively—first HPLRP and then bonus.
Downsides of Joining the Army National Guard for Doctors
- You're a military doctor. That means you do what you're ordered to do and have less control over your practice, staff, schedule, and hours than you might like. Your pay and benefits are determined by the military.
- Incentives are subject to change. Sometimes they go away, like when medical school was deemed no longer eligible for the $4,500 in the Federal Tuition Assistance. Sometimes they increase, like when the student loan repayment was increased from $50,000 to $240,000. Bottom line, understand that the incentives will change after you sign your contract. You must be satisfied with your choice and realize that the incentive landscape will shift depending on supply and demand.
- If you’re a medical student, the specialty you choose may not have a slot in the Army National Guard. If so, you will have to transfer to another Reserve component. These components function a little differently than the Army National Guard and can add additional headaches come time for residency.
- The National Guard requires commitment. You will have to work on weekends when you would rather be with friends or family. You’ll have to spend three weeks at phase-two of Officer Basic Leadership Course (OBLC) [i.e., basic training-ed], and you’ll have to complete phase-one online computer training on your own time. (You have up to three years to complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 of OBLC while in medical school and residency, and exceptions are commonly granted.)
Maximizing Guard Benefits at Each Stage of Medical Training
The Pre-Med
Apply to medical schools that are eligible for State Tuition Assistance programs like the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. 100% tuition is hard to pass up.
Pay less attention to in-state vs out of state tuition for public schools if the state will grant you automatic residency for joining the National Guard.
Sign on the dotted line when you are accepted into medical school. Do all your paperwork and processing prior to acceptance so that, upon acceptance, you can turn around and tell the medical school that you now are officially eligible for in-state tuition and state tuition assistance.
The Medical Student
- Join the National Guard without taking STRAP, drill regularly (using the Flexible Training Policy whenever possible) and collect a monthly $400+ paycheck
- Utilize state tuition assistance
- Utilize the Montgomory GI bill-Select Reserve (Chapter 1606): $350+/month tax free for 36 months while enrolled as a full time student
- Utilize Tri-Care Reserve Select for insurance instead of an expensive medical school plan
- Have the National Guard cover USMLE exam expenses (only test fees, not travel, some board preparation expenses)
- Go on an externship to a military program, as an MSIII or MSIV, collecting active duty pay and receiving reimbursement for all expenses
- Incorporate two week annual training experience into medical school curriculum
- Learn as much as you can from drill and tout your service and new found skill set to residency programs
- Avoid federal incentives (MDSSP, STRAP, and MPLRP) until PGY3, unless you are ready for a longer commitment
- If you find that you don’t enjoy the National Guard while in medical school, or in the first two years of residency, you can pass on the Federal incentives and go into the Individual Ready Reserve for the last two years of your original eight year contract, without further commitment
The Medical Resident
- If you haven't already joined, don't until the start of your third year of residency. The first two years of residency are busy enough, no need to make life more difficult than it already is. The STRAP program just isn’t worth it without the HPLRP.
- Throughout PGY2, work on your National Guard paperwork, because it takes time, and sign up for the STRAP program and HPLRP on day 1 of PGY3.
- If you had $80,000 in loans, and followed this plan, taking these two incentives would pay off all your loans by the completion of a 4 year residency, also providing an additional $35,000 in annual income (STRAP plus drill pay) and access to the Roth TSP while in residency. Electing to take these two incentives would not extend the original eight year contractual agreement and you could still enter the IRR in the last two years of your contract.
- If, after six years of service, you really liked the guard, you could sign up for bonuses and possibly even remain until you secure a pension at 20 years.
- This situation becomes more complex with additional indebtedness. If you had $240,000 in loans, you should do as above, but the HPLRP obligation would be paid in the last two years of residency, and the first four years of practice and the STRAP payback would occur in the fifth through eighth year of practice. This would extend your original contract by 2 years and would require four additional years of active drill.
- Don’t forget that you will also receive your monthly drill check, which for a Captain is around $600, CME funding, and access to Tri-Care Reserve Select and the TSP. Plus you will be able to utilize the flexible training schedule and you may be able to incorporate your two week annual training into your residency curriculum.
The Attending Physician
- Take a combination of the HPLRP and bonus. Again, your goal is to meet the 6 year active drilling component of the “original” eight year contract and then decide if you want to continue to draw incentive.
- With $240,000 in loans, only sign up for HPLRP and allow the National Guard to pay your loans in full over the six year active drilling component of the “original” eight year contract.
- If you have anything less than 200,000, take a bonus for the remaining years of the 6 year active drilling component (ie, $200K plus one year of $15,000 bonus, $160K plus 2 years of $20,000 bonus, $120K plus 3 years of $25,000 bonus). Remember, you can contract for these two incentives at the same time (when you sign your original 8 year contract), but they are paid to you consecutively: HPLRP then Bonus.
- Don’t forget that you will also receive your monthly drill check, which for a major is around $800, CME funding, and access to Tri-Care Reserve Select and the TSP. Plus you will be able to utilize the flexible training schedule.
The Prior Service Professional
Prior service professionals do not need to sign an eight year contract and can elect to take incentives in a way that will commit them to less than 6 years of active drilling status.
Medical students and residents may contract a year at a time, and still benefit from state tuition assistance, state residency, Tri-Care, a monthly drill check, retirement points, the flexible training schedule, CME money (after graduating from medical school) and experience. Avoid taking federal incentives with prior service unless done using the suggestions laid out above.
Board eligible and board certified (BEBC) physicians will have similar benefits to the benefits listed in the prior paragraph and can contract for the HPLRP and bonus on a yearly basis. Remember, incentives are subject to change. If you take an incentive on a yearly basis, it could go away before you are able to maximize the benefit.
Additionally, don't forget about retirement. If you have prior service in the military and you didn't put in enough time to reach the twenty year retirement mark, you can finish out your twenty years of service with the National Guard. The military retirement system is a points system. The amount of pay you receive, depends on your time in service and the number of points you have accrued over that period. Since Active Duty service members acquire more points, they have larger pensions relative to their peers with equal rank and time of service in the National Guard. Active duty members are also able to start taking their pension immediately after retirement, unlike National Guard members who must wait until they reach the age of 60. Still, if you are eight to ten years away from a military pension, and you find you enjoy your time in the National Guard, you might as well finish out your twenty years and become vested in a solid pension plan.
If after having read my post, the Army National Guard entices you, then great, go for it! If not, that’s okay, keep looking, there are other opportunities like this, you just have to find the one that meets MOST of your needs and suits your character. The National Guard is not the only available option for physicians. It was the right option for me, and I will be forever grateful for my experience.
Have you considered the Guard? What did you think? Comment below!
[Editor's Note: Matthew McDougall, MD is a regular reader and a PGYII in Psychiatry at the University of South Dakota. In medical school, he was an Army med student/physician recruiter. This article was submitted and approved according to our Guest Post Policy. We have no financial relationship.]
Hello! Thank you for writing this very informative article. I’m glad you have enjoyed your time in the ARNG. If you’re still replying to responses, I just have a few questions/topics I would like to have clarified. I am interested in the Air Guard so I realize that the information may differ from the army. I am particularly curious about being a medical student without taking the incentives (MDSSP/STRAP/HPLRP) if I can help it.
1. I’m assuming that because it was advised to enroll in STRAP and HPLRP during PGY3, medical school and everything else up to then would be funded via loans? If that is the case, are there any financial help apart from the Montgomery GI Bill assuming the state I attend medical school does not offer much assistance? (California, for example). The National Guard website did not provide too much information so I was hoping to get more insight on this.
2. Just to clarify: If I were to utilize HPLRP concurrently with STRAP during PGY3, how many years of service would be added on? I understand HPLRP is 1:1 and STRAP is 1:2. So consecutively, if I were to take STRAP and HPLRP during PGY3/4, would this mean an additional 6 years? 2 for HPLRP and 4 for STRAP? From what I read, since HPLRP is paid back the year it is rewarded, that means the 2 would be served during the remainder of residency (assuming 4 yr residency) and the 4 would be post residency.
I do want to serve but being aided financially through school is a huge bonus. I just want to learn as much as I can and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. Thanks again!
Quick answers to your questions:
1. Yes, you would need to fund your school with grants/scholarships and loans. State tuition assistance and MGIB are all that is available. That said, you can always find other ways to repay loans to include working for the VA which will repay 125K in loans over five years.
2. It depends on how long your residency is. HPLRP is paid in the year that it is taken. STRAP is paid upon completion of HPLRP repayment. If you have a 4-year residency and take HPLRP/STRAP in your third and fourth year, you will owe 4 years upon the completion of residency. (4 years post-residency, as you stated).
I understand. Good luck!
Dr. Dahle and the rest of the WCI Team,
First of all thank YOU for all that you and your team do to provide
excellent material and information in all the various forms for those
of us hoping to keep making smart decision in personal finance just
have we have academically and professionally so far.
I have been meaning to email you for awhile and I was going to wait
until after Match Day in March so I could include specifics regarding
where I matched (hopefully) and so advice going forward however I
decided to go ahead and send a message specifically about my military
route into medicine.
I am currently a 4th year medical student at ………….
I am under the relatively little know Medical/Dental Student Stipend
Program (MDSSP). Upon being accepted into medical school I reached out
to a specialty branch recruiter (docs/dentist/chaplains) for my state
and began the lengthy process of commissioning. March of my first year
of medical school everything went through and I commissioned as a 2nd
LT into the Army National Guard (ARNG) and assigned to the
medical detachment for the state.
What do I get:
Monthly stipend of $2,400ish (same stipend that HPSP students are
authorized)
Tricare Reserve Select Health Insurance.
Years towards retirement as long as each year is a satisfactory year
regarding points however that is relatively easy to obtain (more
below).
Other military benefits that come with being a regular member.
What I owe:
1 year for every 6 months (or there part of) stipend is received,
basically 2:1 pay back in the reserves or the NG.
Tuition is not included so I took out loans for tuition however the
stipend and drill check have covered most of my expenses. (I will be
graduating with a total of $130k in loan debt.)
Drilling:
MDSSP students drill on a flexible policy as the #1 priority is for
students to do well in school.
Drill check and retirement points earned when they are attended.
Summer between my MS1 and MS2 years I went down to FT Sam Houston and
Camp Bullis for my BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course) along with
about 200-300 of my colleagues who were primarily HPSP students. It
was then that I realized how relatively little known the MDSSP program
was. I obviously feel that choosing to serve your country in any
capacity is great, however anyone who signs a contract with the
military should be fully aware of their options and choose whatever
route they feel is best for them.
As a side note, being in a National Guard unit means I have my own
chain of command to make request. This allows me to send you this
email from…….where I am attending the Army Flight Surgeon
Course as a 4th year elective since I was able to make the request
through my COC and I am here with a handful of USUHS students but no
HPSP students.
Yes, I have some debt from loans to cover tuition however I have
enjoyed the professional development and the retirement benefits that
the MDSSP program has offered and I believe it is a hidden gem that
more medical students may be interested in.
Thank you again for everything you do and please feel free to reach
out to me for any questions.
Thanks for posting this, Jim! I had a similar experience in medical school, and can honestly say that the Army National Guard continues to be a great experience through residency and beyond (now entering my 4th year as an attending and my 12th year in the National Guard).
Is there any point to joining the NG or reserves as a private practice attending- seems like any financial benefit is totally and completely removed? Which branch has best pay, least danger, shortest initial term?
Also what is the minimum commitment..8 years for either??
What is the payscale- I want to serve but I dont want to do overglorified volunteer work, I can find that on my own.
What is the risk of going to a war zone?
Do they allow medical conditions, what if a condition develops, are you stuck?
I would not join the military for financial reasons. If you’re more focused on the length of the commitment, the danger, and the payscale, chances of you being happy doing this seem pretty low to me.
All branches pay the same and frankly, docs are awfully safe in all four branches. I think the docs who have been hurt as a result of an act of war in the last 20 years can be counted on one hand.
1. You can make more working a call weekend than you can a guard weekend. You should join because you want to serve your country and because you want some variety in your life. The people are also great.
2. 8 years is the minimum initial commitment. You may serve 6 in drilling status and 2 in Ready Reserve (Just on the books, not drilling).
3. Your pay will be determined by the rank your state gives you when you join. I have seen physicians start out as high as a colonel (Neurosurgeon with 20 years experience). You can look up army pay tables as easy as I can, just google military pay table.
4. Currently, ARNG deployments are voluntary and people are eager to take them. There is a chance though, and I can not give you a percentage. If you can’t see yourself deploying to a war zone, DO NOT JOIN.
5. If you get sick, you will be med boarded out if your medical condition is likely to prevent you from deploying within a year. The military doesn’t hold on to people who are not able to deploy.
This post is very helpful. I am a board certified EM doc 2 years out of residency and am considering joining the National Guard.
I have always had a desire to serve and I figure loan repayment is an added benefit. I have realized how mundane community based practice can be. I work in a very large group that makes it possible to take time off when needed (drilling or deployment). I believe the National Guard may be a good fit.
Couple questions:
How often is the average doc in the national guard deployed?
Being an EM doc, would I have a higher chance of being deployed more often?
I have previously consolidated my loans though LinkCapital, would I still eligible for loan repayment?
Thanks!
It varies with what’s going on in the world but could be as frequent as every two years.
Yes.
Yes.
1. Deployment.
I Just had the Chief Surgeon of the National Guard, Colonel Pelzner, provide us a brief about deployment at one of my Army National Guard Training Events. Currently, all deployments are voluntary. The Chief Surgeons office sends out opportunities to the states and the deputy state surgeons put these opportunities out to providers. Someone steps up and the deployment opportunity is filled.
In the future, Pelzer wants to move to a mandatory deployment cycle which requires each state to fill a certain amount of deployment slots. The details of this system haven’t been worked out.
2. Differences with EM specialty.
You would not be deployed any more frequently than anyone else filing the field surgeon or flight surgeon slot. The army doesn’t care that you are an EM physician. They will deploy the IM doc just as much as the IM doc.
3. Consolidation.
See DD Form 2475.
Dont have loans, had full academic scholarships, mid career, just looking for interesting practice aspects- is there any financial incentive or is it like doing volunteer work. WHy dont they have something equiv. to loan repayment for those without a loan?
They often do have a signing bonus.
Incentives: 25K yearly bonus. 2,500 for CME. Flexible training schedule allowing you some additional flexibility with your work. A pension if you stay in the guard for 20 years.
I was told by the reserves that they only want 2 yr minimum and still unclear what physician work and pay looks like in IRR ANG AFNG vs Reserves etc.
The thing that strikes me in calling these folks, is that no one seems to know anything or have any intelligence or sophistication in speaking with or recruiting physicians. Some would say this is emblematic of the military itself, and this is why you dont join the military. Its the military. Im sure there are docs or staff that know something, but good luck reaching them.
Perhaps its only for people that want their loans ‘forgiven’, which means they can heap their own debt onto the taxpayer, which I oppose, or docs that need friends or hobbies.
On the contrary, people join for several reasons other than paying off oppressive loans. And to say that it’s just a way to have taxpayers pay for it is a rationale lacking in sophistication. It is definitely frustrating to find the right info and good points of contact mostly because the military medical community is small and somewhat fragmented in a few ways. People are coming in from different specialties, at different career stages, and for different incentives. You are just gonna have a hard time finding someone from your specialty, that can guide you through the details of incentives they may not have taken. It’s simply not the right thing for many docs, probably including yourself. We would all agree that recruiters need to be better. But your comment is smug and disrespectful. I’m more than happy with my choice to join, and I didn’t do for friends. I’m an EM attending with a young family and plenty of hobbies.
Yes I’d be one not joining for loans, had full academic honor scholarships throughout. I’d join for patriotism.
The inability to coherently recruit, I take as a sign of their overall operations however. While I’m very patriotic, my comment is not smug, as patriotism is not the same as being pro-military.
I meant that your original comments were disrespectful more so to military physicians. You don’t know why people choose to serve. You sound like you assume your motivation would be more noble than all of theirs somehow. Nobody cares that you had scholarships, congratulations. That just makes you sound more smug. If you want, I believe you can serve with no major recruitment incentives, and simply receive basic pay and routine bonuses. But I’m not trying to recruit you. Being a military physician doesn’t even have to be a patriotic act nor a pro-military act. Many of us are ambivalent about these aspects of serving. Some people just do it for a chance to do humanitarian missions, for example. Your perspective seems limited. You know, being a “patriot” might also mean joining and being part of the solution, and not sitting out because recruiting is challenging and too understaffed to cater to you as much as you’d like. But yes, recruiting should be better.
Accession and retention pretty much gone for FY20 for AMEDD reservists except EM, general/thoracic/Ortho surgeons. None for anesthesiologists, Fam Med, Field Surgeon, PA’s.
This will hurt recruiting efforts, although this is probably what they want, with DHA in control.
That may be the case for the reserve, but I have not heard this happening for my fellow guard members. All of my bonus eligible colleagues are getting their bonuses without a problem.
I can’t remember if this question is answered on here or not since it’s been a while since I read through it all. Currently I’m a MS3 and have been trying to figure out if/when/how I wanna join for a while now. I know I’m going to do a reserve component of the military at this point, but I’m trying to figure out if I want to do the Guard or the Reserves. The specialties I’m between are EM and Orthopedics (however I’m doing my cores this year so this may easily change).
My question is, what advice would you give as far as choosing between the Guard and Reserves?
Would you suggest one over the other depending on what specialty in medicine one is practicing?
Lastly – and this is unrelated to the previous question – in the next 10-15 years are there some foreseeable changes coming to AMEDD, whether active, guard, or reserve that would be good to know about?
Thanks,
Jacob
You can join either the Army Reserves or National Guard as an Orthopedic Surgeon or ED doc. In the Guard, you will have excellent utility as an EM Doc, filling either a flight surgeon or field surgeon position at drill and when deployed. In the reserve, you will likely get to keep your AOC as an orthopedic surgeon and will be able to contribute your unique skills during drill and when deployed. If you are an orthopod in the Guard, you may end up filling a field surgeon slot for drill but should be able to be deployed as an orthopedic surgeon. Your skills are too valuable to deploy you in a field surgeon/flight surgeon capacity. You will also be able to help with stateside missions in the Guard (this is not a function of the Reserves).
Honestly, from what I’ve observed, the Guard will take much better care of you as a soldier. The full-time staff in the National Guard are top notch and do a good job of ensuring that all of your needs are met. You will also have a better chance at drilling at a location near home. In the reserve, you will have to be much better at advocating for yourself and keeping your career on track. You will also have to stay on top of your incentives more than you would with the Guard. Both the Guard and Reserve should be able to promote you to an O6 quickly. That said, the reserve will likely have more unit vacancy promotions so you may be able to be promoted a little more quickly should you be able to navigate the beast that is the reserves.
Lastly, you can always start with the Guard and then transfer to the reserve when it will benefit your career. The same goes for the Reserve should you start your career there.
I was told the reserves only want 2 yr minimum and still unclear what physician work looks like in IRR ANG AFNG vs Reserves etc.
I have little financial incentive, and instead it probably is financially punishing, since this is mostly for docs that want to heap their loans back onto the taxpayer, which I oppose.
The thing that strikes me in calling these folks, is that no one seems to know anything in detail or have any intelligence or sophistication in speaking with or recruiting physicians. Some would say this is emblematic of the military itself.
Maybe it is something to do only for people that had to take out loans so they can shift their own burden to the taxpayer, or docs that need friends or hobbies.
Follow-up: I’m at my Captain’s Career Course this week and I had the chance to eat dinner with an orthopedic surgeon who joined the reserves mid-career. He Joined between 2013 and 2015 (didn’t catch the exact year) and is scheduled for his third deployment in the next year. He told me that there is a shortage of surgeons and that it is not uncommon for surgeons in the reserve to deploy frequently. I am not in contact with any surgeons in the National Guard so I cannot give you a good comparison, I’m sorry.
Thank you for the information. My application for the reserves is almost complete, just waiting on MEPS of course. My understanding from your website and others is that the reserves/guard will pay for USMLEs, however my recruiter told me today that they do not. Is this correct? Step 2 CS is now $1500 and CK is $600 so if I can save that money it would be great.
Also, if they do still pay for it, can it be done retroactively? I need to sign up for step 2 in the next few months, but my packet won’t be reviewed till February based on board dates. If I sign up before I’m accepted I figure they won’t reimburse me?
There is an SOP form 2013 titled “Army National Guard Certification and Licensure Exam Reimbursement Program” that discusses the procedure that allowed me to be reimbursed for USMLE exams. I would ask if the reserves has something similar.
If the reserves has a similar SOP , they will reimburse you after you take the test. They will want to see a passing score and the receipt. So long as you are in the reserves when you take the test, and you pass, you should be good. You will not be reimbursed if you are not yet in the reserves when you take the test or if you fail.
Hi Matt!
Thanks for the info, I found this article very helpful. I am currently active duty, with 1 year left trying to decide between Guard, a GS job at my current hospital, or just leaving all together for civilian practice. The one question I can’t seem to answer is does the IRR time (4 years in med school) count towards your 20 year retirement? For me, this would be 4 years IRR+ 7 active duty (residency +attending). Looking at a commitment of 13 years vs 9 makes a difference to me. Also, do you know if air national guard basically has same deployment/drill requirements as army?
Hi, Katie, sorry for the delay!
I’m sorry, but I can’t answer your question about medical school with certainty. I know that when I was looking into the HPSP, medical school was only added after one had 20 years of other qualifying time, so I would guess it would be the same for the national guard. That said, you probably won’t know until you get your DD214 upon completing your AD service. If you haven’t given it a thought yet, you may want to consider working for the VA for five years after you get out of the military. Doing so allows you to roll all of your military time into your VA pension (you are vested after 5 years). This pension will be based on your physician income and not your military-grade so it will be much better than your military pension. If you decide to also join the national guard, you can continue to work on your military pension and have two pensions in retirement (yes, both your military pension -would need 20 years of credible service-and the VA pension). Plus, if you join the VA, you get 15 extra days a year for your military training.
As to deployments, currently, all National Guard deployments are voluntary. The National Guard Bureau puts them out to the states and the states fill the deployments with physicians who want to deploy. Essentially, the National Guard is owned by the Governor so SMs cannot be mandated to deploy without the governor’s consent. This provides a level of protection from a chaotic deployment schedule that is not afforded to our brothers and sisters in the Reserves.
If you are between air guard and army guard, please remember that army guard has a much better incentive package and has more opportunities for specialists to fill the ranks.
Hi Matt,
Wonderfully informative article! I am prior service and thinking of rejoining for STRAP, as it would help my family immensely. This is sort of a specific question, and I may just have to go to a recruiter. I just wanted to see if you knew the answer by chance. Do you know how STRAP treats academic residencies that have extra research years. For example, a 7 year general surgery residency that includes 2 years of required research?
My guess is that you would be allowed to take STRAP while in your research years since it is a part of your Surgery Residency. This is a technical question that most recruiters would not know. I would suggest that you go to the National Guard Bureau incentives manager for an answer to this type of question.
Hey Matt,
Would you mind doing a podcast interview on the Whitecoat Investor Podcast ? This is a great blog, well articulated for the reader. There are also some great remarks throughout the comment section as well. If we can consolidate these pertinent information into a one hour podcast, it would be beneficial for us all (medical/dental students, residents/fellows, and attendings)
Information covering:
1. MDSSP, STRAP, HPLRP
2. Prior service enlisted choosing the Guard route
3. Life in the National Guard as an medical student, resident, & attending physician during weekend drill/ADT
(Is it true that regardless of specialty, one would function as a 63B-Field Surgeon and perform PHAs for different companies or battalions during drill ?)
4. For those of us who want to work in the VA system after residency/fellowship at the age of 45- How can one maximize the TSP contribution from their government-civilian job and TSP from their ARNG pay ?
5. For those of us who will go onto a 6-year OMFS residency and accumulate +400K worth of student loans (Dental School and Medical School). How do you suggest tackling this huge debt ? I know there are several loan repayment programs such as : VA has EDRP (Education Debt Reduction Program-120K) for employees, ARNG HPLRP (250K) and aggressive monthly payments.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Hi Kervin,
I would welcome a podcast on the matter, but I would need to find a time that works with the WCI. I also don’t know that he would be interested in this type of material given his other options. If I were to do it, it would have to be after my upcoming deployment (volunteered to deploy) so it would have to be this summer/fall.
If you want specific answers to your questions about the synergy between the VA and the National Guard the WCI can put us into contact (if he has time) and I will do my best to address them.
Best,
That might be a good time to do a military specific podcast. We had one a few months ago but by Fall it will have been a while.
A lot of these details change frequently and apply to very few people though. The questions asked in the comments section of this post are VERY specific and complicated. It would be tough to provide enough background information on each of them for most listeners to even understand what is being asked, especially with all the military acronyms.
Yes, thanks WCI concur. A podcast discussing financial benefits for professional students and providers within the reserve component would probably be the only one out there for people to listen to. (that’s including YouTube, podcast, and other online resources)
Okay sounds good Matt. Come back safe. Looking forward to listening to your podcast interview in the fall. Thank you.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for the much needed information
1) Can residents apply to fellowships through the STRAP program, specifically military-fellowships
2) What if I do not have loans at all? Any recommendations?
3) Can the GI bill be transferred to my children?
You’re welcome.
1.) Since Residency and Fellowship are 1:1 commitments, I’m guessing you can probably find a way to match into a fellowship. That said, they will fill fellowships with their active-duty ranks first, so it may be very difficult. With the Defence Health Agency overseeing all of military medicine, it may be more practical now than in the past. I would encourage you to find a contact at DHA to ask this question prior to entering blindly.
2.) There is still the bonus (25 k per year), CME money (2.5 k per year), low-cost insurance (might better than what is offered in residency/fellowship), and service component.
3.) Yes. You must first complete the Captains Career Course and must transfer prior to a certain number of years in service. I believe its 15 or so, but can’t recall off of the top of my head.
Hi Mat,
My residency is 3 years, If I take STRAP and loan repayment at beginning of year 2. How many years of commitment I have to do post graduation?
See comment, below.
How much loan repayment do you plan on taking? I can’t give you an answer without that information.
my loan is around 300k, but just wanna be in the Guard least required mount, then i will pay the rest
If you began your service in the National Guard and incentive commitment at the beginning of your PGY2 year, you would receive STRAP for two years along with HPLRP (PGY2 and PGY3). If it was your goal to limit your National Guard Exposure to 8 years, you would discontinue your HPLRP contract after you receive your PGY3 payment (applied at the end of your PGY3 year; 80k total paid on loans) and would begin to pay off your STRAP, which would take 4 years (for two years of STRAP incentive). In this scenario, you would have served 6 years (2 years in the STRAP/HPLRP payment phase; 4 years in the STRAP repayment phase) and then can enter the IRR for the remaining 2 years of your 8-year commitment, where you will not be required to drill. This would result in 4 years of service as an attending.
If you began your service at the beginning of your PGY 3 year, you would receive STRAP, along with HPLRP in your PGY3 year. If the goal is to limit exposure to 8 years, you would continue your HPLRP payment for 3 more years (160k total paid in loans) and would then begin to pay off your STRAP, which would take 2 years (for one year of strap incentive). In this scenario, you would have served for 6 years (1 year in the STRAP/HPLRP payment phase; 3 years in the HPLRP payment phase; 2 years in the STRAP repayment phase) and then can enter the IRR for the remaining 2 years of your 8-year commitment. This would result in 5 years of service as an attending.
If you began your service as soon as you become an attending, you would receive 40K per year for 6 years (240k total paid in loans), and then enter the IRR for the remaining 2 years of your 8-year commitment. This would result in 6 years of service as an attending.
Hi Matt, I talked to the captain last week and he told me that I can’t take loan repayment until pgy3
I can take strap starting at pgy2. Is this something new?
Sorry, that was my oversight. HPLRP can only be taken concurrently with STRAP after the completion of your PGY2 year.
Hi Matt,
I loved the article and really appreciate your willingness to keep up with much of the comment thread for almost 7 years. I hope I can pay it forward.
I am currently an 2nd year undergrad student (credits) in Texas and have recently made the commitment to pursue medicine. I am however financially struggling to complete my undergrad in a timely matter. Having the NG help me through undergrad would open the door for me to remain a full time student until I complete my undergrad. Nonetheless, I realize there is a certain hurdle in transitioning to 00E67 for medical school.
I like the idea mentioned where I don’t necessarily have to make a decision anytime soon for whether I want to undertake further military service after residency. I believe I will be able to cover the full cost of attendance for medical school with federal Graduate PLUS Loans and personal savings.
Besides financial assistance from the NG, I think I would very much enjoy some of the unique experiences the NG offers.
I was wondering if you could give some thoughts and/or reservations about potentially joining NG during my undergrad; before I have the ability to potentially matriculate into medical school and continue my minimum service commitment.
Thanks!
The main problem with joining before your medical school acceptance is that you will need to go to basic and AIT for a different MOS, which could result in up to 2 years of additional military training, extending your path to medical school by up to two years. Two years of lost income as a doc is very significant. Plus, you could be called up for deployment prior to getting your medical school acceptance letter which would further delay your journey to medical school. I would encourage you to find other ways to fund your undergraduate education.
Hi Matt,
I really appreciate you putting out this article! I haven’t been able to find much information about this elsewhere online. I’m currently a first year medical student interested in joining the army national guard, but have a few concerns. Do medical schools/residency programs ever have any issue with their students joining the military? I know that both require a large amount of time individually, let alone combined, and wasn’t sure if that would place them into a difficult situation and I’d really rather not cause problems. Additionally, I’m currently in an accelerated medical school program in which medical school is completed in 3 years followed by a residency at the same institution for the next 3 years after that. This makes things a bit trickier for me in terms of finding relevant information about joining the guard.
Any clarifications or help would be much appreciated! Thank you very much for your time.
Hi Matt,
Awesome article. As a current Navy Reserve Corpsman applying to medical school, this program is something I’m considering changing branches for. I would like to connect with you offline if you have the time (I requested to connect on LinkedIn).
One question I have is about the state tuition assistance. I understand that the amount of the assistance can vary from state to state, but from my superficial research I’m discovering that there’s often some fine print about state tuition not being allocated for professional degrees – only first bachelors or masters. Has anyone experienced this? Forgive me if this question has been asked already. I tried to scan the comments but there are an impressive amount…thanks again for the great resource!
Matt:
I’m glad I was able to answer your questions on LinkedIn. Since this wasn’t covered in that email, I think your best bet is to contact the Education Services Manager or GI Bill Manager within the state that you are interested in applying. They should be able to get you the specific information that you need. I am not aware of a comprehensive resource that addresses this important question.
Note: The GI Bill manager would be helpful for the MGIB/MGIB-SR questions (Note: medical school qualified for these when I was in school), and the Education Services Manager should be able to give you information about state tuition assistance.
Best,
Hey, Matt, I just went to an email from my education services manager and he had the following listed in his signature pannel. These may be good resources to find answers to your questions about education benefits:
http://www.nationalguard.com/education
http://www.facebook.com/arngeducation
http://www.goarmyed.com
http://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill
http://www.dantes.doded.mil
http://www.cool.army.mil
Hi Matt,
I have a couple questions that I was hoping you could answer.
If I join the NG as a M1 without any federal incentive, then does this mean that I have satisfied my contract at the end of my PGY2 year?
If I join the NG as a M1 while taking MDSSP, I understand that I have 8 years of obligation post-residency. Between PGY2 and finishing residency, assuming I don’t take STRAP, am I just part of the IRR?
Lastly, is it possible to take MDSSP as a M2 or M3, even while joining as a M1?
Thanks.
Hi Matt,
Thank you for continuing to provide excellent information here. I’m curious about what the transition looks like when school ends and you head to residency – especially if that residency is out of state/too far to make regular drilling reasonable. Is it a smooth standardized transition both between school and residency, and between states, or does the “climate” of your state’s command and the needs of the new state come into play?
For context, I’m an M2 in the homestretch of the Army NG recruiting process (would’ve commission already if not for the pandemic). My concern stems from my state having very few residency slots in my desired specialty (EM).
Hi Matt,
I’m glad to see that you are still replying to comments so many years after writing this article. In the article you advise Residents not to join the Guard until PGY-3 and it seems like you advise med students to apply right away (though I’m assuming you were thinking more of MS1’s or maybe MS-2’s). As of next week (July 1) I will be an MS4. I plan to apply to Family Medicine programs this fall. I know I want to serve in the Guard at some point, ideally I would love to be a flight surgeon. I am unsure if it would be more beneficial to join now as an MS4 or wait until PGY-3. What would you advise?
Unfortunately, Matt may not see your comment as we’re having trouble with the subscribe to comments feature lately.
Hello Sir, I just read this very lengthy post!! First off thanks so much for writing this because there is so much I hadn’t even heard of… but with that said I definitely have a couple questions. I am in my first year undergrad and I am a 4 year scholarship cadet who wants to go to medical school for pathology. I am only in ROTC not in an SMP program or anything, but I want to go national guard when I commission because I want to go to medical school with having to do any active duty. I also wanted to go to medical school and use the loan repayment to get it all paid for, but I’d like to do this with the least amount of time required to the National Guard… and with the least amount of deployment time, which I thought would be 0 deployment time so I’m a little confused on that too. I’m just curious what path of scholarships and incentives you think is the smartest to minimize my time from home and minimize my time in service while still getting the majority of my medical school paid for. Thank you so much!
So you want to do the least possible and get the most possible? 🙂
The best way to minimize your time in service is to pay for school with borrowed money and live like a resident for a couple of years after residency to pay them off. If you want to be a military doctor then look into these programs.
Hey,
I am currently an Army AD CPT. I did the HPSP in medical school (no student loans), a 3 year military residency, then most of my 4 years of pay back. I am now thinking about getting out and doing a second civilian residency program and joining either the reserves or the guard to eventually earn a pension. Any advice for someone in my position? Should I wait until after my second residency to join the reserves/guard or join right away? How can I maximize my benefits considering I don’t need any student loan repayment?
THANKS!
I don’t know, but I do know the best place to do a second residency is often in the military. You’ll be paid much more and may have an easier time matching.
I agree with the WCI, so long as you don’t incur additional service obligation, and can complete the second residency of your choice in the military, I would do that. You will be much better off. If you’re after a nice pension, I would consider working for the VA for at least 5 years upon completion of your second residency. If you do that you can buy in all of your military time for a very minimal expense and can count it toward your VA pension (and the VA pension is based on your physician salary and not your military basic pay like the active-duty pension). Of course, you need to look at the differences in pay between the private sector and the VA. The VA matches up pretty nicely for IM/family medicine/Psych, but not so much for other specialties. My guess is that your second residency choice is probably anesthesia/radiology, so this additional option might not be all that beneficial. If you have a higher paying specialty, consider joining the VA in the last 5 years of your career when you are ready for a slightly slower pace (or really slow pace depending on the tempo of your private practice).
On the guard/reserve side of things, you now get Board Certified Pay/Health Professions Incentive Pay (BCP/IP) in addition to drill pay and you can still get a 25K bonus each year (yes, they haven’t adjusted for inflation in years and probably won’t). The BCP/IP isn’t much, but it’s better than in the past where you just earned basic pay for AT days or MUTAs (1 muta = 4 hour + drill assembly which is roughly equivalent to 1 day of AT; generally you have 4 mutas per weekend drill). You also will get $2,500 per year for CME and can use some of your AT days for completion of the CME event.
The guard and the reserve really have different missions so you’ll want to choose wisely. The reserve has a more frequent deployment cycle but has more specialties –allowing you to actually work in your sub-specialty. The guard has a less frequent deployment cycle but a more consistent stateside mission (think physical health assessments) and fewer specialties. You can fill a flight surgeon or field surgeon slot with most specialties, you just won’t necessarily be practicing medicine the way that you want.
This has been an awesome post! And people have been replying to it for such a long time! Thanks!
I wanted to throw my situation out there. I am 40 year old, with no prior military experience, halfway through the 1st year of a 3 year EM residency with approximately 400k in med school loans. Thinking of joining the reserves or national guard. I have no preference for which service, I just assume that the army and navy have bigger budgets for healthcare related concerns but that is just an assumption. My reasons for joining are I just want the experience/exposure, I would like to give back (american has been great for my family), and help with loan repayment. I have no problem with deployments. It’s the military, that is what they do. I have no interest in active duty. I don’t want to be told where to live and I can earn more in the private sector. What would be my best options? STRAP? HPLRP? TMS?
Hi, Jermaine, depending on how tight finances are, I would recommend one of two options. If finances are tight, consider signing up for STRAP and HPLRP starting your 3rd year of residency. If finances are manageable, just wait until you graduate from residency and then sign up for HPLRP. I would also recommend that you look for a job that will reimburse you for paying off your loans. Since the Army cuts you a check (W2 income) for your loans, you can still get reimbursed on the back end for paying your loans by some employers. The VA is always a good option for people that are serious about the military, due to the various types of military leave, reserve differential payments when deployed, and their generous loan repayment programs (up to $200,000), but your pay will likely be less than you would garner in the private sector as a board-certified EM doc. If I was you, I would probably join the National Guard. Deployments are a worthwhile life experience, but I don’t know that I would want to go on them in the frequency that I see my reserve counterparts deploying. I hope this helps.
Hi Matt! I hope you’re still checking in on this thread once in awhile. I got into a medical school, in which my total loans would probably end up to be 240,000 (w/o 7% annual interest) with private loans. This amount would include tuition, insurance, rent, personal expenses, etc. I was wondering if you knew if taking the HPLRP/STRAP/MDSSP would apply towards private loans or strictly only towards federal loans? Are the loans and bonuses only applied towards the principle amount of 240k or does it include interest and the personal expenses as well? I talked to someone who said it only applied to the initial amount, so I wasn’t sure. I was also wondering if I had a proper understanding of how this loan repayment would work.
Since I would take out a total of 240k in loans, from accepting HPLRP my PGY3 year + STRAP, I would serve 6 yrs from HPLRP + 4 years from STRAP = 10 years total?
Hi, Mindy, when it was first explained to me, loans are reimbursable so long as they don’t come from the “bank of mom and dad” and they can be clearly tied to Medical School Debt. Don’t ever mix your undergraduate debt with your medical school debt. As far as principle vs principal and interest, my reserve counterparts say that the reserve only pays off the principal, but the guard paid of principal and interest for me. I guess they have different interpretations of the regulations.
Most recent NG guidance on consolidation:
“Qualified loans must have documentation that indicates the loan was incurred
concurrently with the training received in a health professions school. If health professions
educational loans are refinanced, the original documentation of the loan(s) will be submitted to
NGB through GIMS to establish the simultaneous nature of such loans. The loan must have
been secured at least 1 year before the repayment. If loans are consolidated, original paperwork
identifying date and school attended during the time the loan was incurred must be submitted to
NGB through GIMS. Payments cannot be made if we cannot determine what part of a
consolidated loan was for the qualifying degree.”
Most recent NG guidance on repayment of qualified loans:
Repayment of Qualified Loans. Reference AR 621-202 Para 8-6.
(1) Annual payments will be made until one of the following occurs:
(a) The student loan is paid in full
(b) The original loan balance has been reached
(c) The lifetime cap is reached
(d) The Health Professional exits the service
(e) The Health Professional elects to terminate the contract
Great post on a topic where there are many questions, and few answers. The monetary benefits have been mostly discussed, so I’ll focus on my experience. I’ve been in the Army National Guard since undergrad, and have drilled through medical school, residency, fellowship, and now as a new civilian attending and Army flight surgeon. I had the choice of applying to civilian programs that I liked because the NG allowed me that flexibility. Now, being able to fly around my city on a military helicopter, cruise down the coast, and actually be part of the flight crew is an amazing and extremely rare experience. Doing this on my days off from work and getting paid for it is icing on top. Most people pay for this training and experience. I admire military aviation culture, and appreciate the high-speed soldiers and multi-million dollar equipment we get to work with. It’s exciting, enriching, fulfilling, glamorous, and is gives me something to talk about at the dinner table. But that’s only 10%(or less) of the job.
As a student and resident the majority of my time was spent learning the system and doing “army stuff”. One weekend a month adds up. Less study time. Interrupted rotations. Less time for family and friends. It’s a lot of sacrifice to do nothing exciting for several years. I’ll admit it was discouraging. I took on leadership roles but realized I could not take care of “army stuff” throughout the week after coming home from a 4-day drill weekend. I attended combative schools which was a blast, but the majority of the time I was not flying(not on flight status) and didn’t have a clear purpose until completing flight school.
As a flight surgeon the doors open much wider. I have a greater sense of job purpose and can fly every week if I so desire. But there’s also a lot of administrative medicine to manage. Having a civilian job keeps my medicine well-rounded, and the military allows me apply medicine to get to the fun stuff.
The money is helpful, but not lifechanging. I still have loans. My net worth is hovering near zero. And dealing with bonuses and loan repayment is a drag. They are very slow to process, and require a lot of work on your end. Be prepared to put in lots of time and frustration.
Overall, the money is barely worth it.
But I’ve always dreamed of flying as a medic/doc so for me it’s worth.
Don’t forget about deployments. I’m heading out soon to the middle east where I can hopefully put my training to good use.
Have fun on your deployment, Jeff. Hopefully, the covid restrictions have eased up a little. I was deployed March-August of this year so it was a bit different than I expected with the challenges of covid everpresent.
I agree with you about not having as much purpose as a medical student and resident as you do once you are able to fill your AOC/MOS. That said, I think it’s probably largely unit and commander-dependent. I felt like I received some training working with the medics in the ASMC that was valuable to my medical training. I also had a fair amount of time to study while at drill so was able to maximize my time spent at drill in medical school and residency. My commander knew that my job was to become a solid attending physician and gave me the time needed to focus on my studies.
Like you, the work is much more interesting now that I am an attending physician. I get to do conduct special psychiatric exams (Command Directed Behavioral Health Exams, Fit for Duty Exams, Security Clearance Exams, etc.) which I really enjoy. I also went on a deployment (which is a unique life experience), and I’ll be completing the aeromedical psychology course next fall. On the all, I still tell people that joining the guard was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Thank you for all the information. I am about to start dental school. I have a few questions.
1) If I do MDSSP for four years I will owe 8 years, but if I do a wartime critical specialty and STRAP I can pay the MDSSP back during residency, and reduce my MDSSP obligation to 1:1 instead of 1:2.
2) I am correct that Oral Surgery is a wartime critical specialty? Is it likely to remain as such? This is at minimum a four year specialty. So I will be out and owe my STRAP (8 years).
3) Will i have to drill during residency?
4) Can i use the reserve GI bill to pay for dental school? I know I would have to tack on 6 more years. If I used the GI bill would i be able to go to a residency or would i be prevented? (This would be instead of using the HPLPR). What would you recommend?
5) Major difference between the guard and reserve? Do guards really go overseas more and reserves back fill? Does one deploy more than the other? Would one have more opportunity to go to specific army schools such as airborne?
Matt,
Linked up to this post from WCI’s new book for students. So far, both have been extremely helpful. Thank you!
Starting med school this year at a state institution. As an out-of-state student, I would be looking at ~54K in tuition. I love America and I want to serve. I’ve researched most military options and the guard really is the best option for me. The state school I will be attending will grant in-state tuition for ARNG members even if they are out-of-state residents so I would be looking at ~21K in tuition if I can sign up with the guard.
If I take MDSSP as well, I’m assuming that time in the guard during school is off-limits for any obligation linked to that commitment. Am I right about this? What about during PGYs in the guard?
Thanks again!
Hey, Porter, I’m happy to hear you have found this post helpful. Technically, you don’t need to take the MDSSP or STRAP to postpone deployment until after residency. The guard will want you to be fully licensed and board-eligible (i.e., done with residency) prior to deploying you.