Army STRAP, after residency

[stiz]

Curious if anyone has experience how STRAP actually works after residency. I'm a Psych resident by the way.

A few questions as I'm starting to consider what type of position I might take after residency. Obviously I know the answers to these questions would vary depending on conflicts going on, etc. so I'm asking what's typical in a period like we're in right now:

1. How often are you likely to be called up? I've always seen every 2-3 years for a 4-month period to either be "boots on ground" overseas or backfill a slot for the doc who did go overseas or maybe even for a position they just have vacant.

2. Does "pre-empting" the call up work? Is that done often? Whether you volunteer to go to Iraq/Afghanistan or to a position in Alaska, etc. Does this remove you from the cycle for a couple of years??

3. How quickly after finishing residency are you likely to be called up? We all finish around July 1 every year. Could be awkward to be 1 month into new job and then get called up? Which brings me to my next question.

4. How much lead time does one have when they get called up? Is this a "report next week" thing or would they give you a month? two?

5. Does anyone have more info on how you do your time? I know some guys that never do monthly drills for instance. Can you do it all in a longer once a year stint? At VA hospitals? etc?

6. Is it possible to convert from Reserves to Active Duty and in doing that would you decrease your total time and if so, by how much?

7. What sort of positions are very compatible with STRAP/Reserves? I hear the VA is a good fit. I've thought about doing short locum tenens but this would depend on how much lead time we have if activated.

8. Is it possible to do a fellowship and take STRAP or HPLRP during that fellowship? (I don't think this is possible from what I recall but curious again). Does anyone try to do a 1-year fellowship with a program knowing there is a possibility they'd get called up? (I could see this being possible in Psych since a lot of fellowship slots are open/vacant).

Really just looking for more insight from anyone who's already post-residency and what their experience is ....

Thanks!

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[notdeadyet]

Stiz- I am in the Guard and just finishing residency in psych, so limited experience, but not a lot of Guard/Reserve on this forum.

1. How often are you likely to be called up? I've always seen every 2-3 years for a 4-month period to either be "boots on ground" overseas or backfill a slot for the doc who did go overseas or maybe even for a position they just have vacant.

Yep. Tempo seems to be slowing, though with budget cuts and the habituation of calling up RC, I don't think the army will have as high a threshold for calling up reservists in the future.

2. Does "pre-empting" the call up work? Is that done often? Whether you volunteer to go to Iraq/Afghanistan or to a position in Alaska, etc. Does this remove you from the cycle for a couple of years??

You can always volunteer for an overseas deployment, and if you deploy, that would usually take you out of rotation. I have never heard of volunteering for stateside deployments in lieu of overseas, but I'm Guard and I don't know how Army Reserve works on this (the Reserve does a lot of backfilling of stateside slots for deploying physicians whereas the Guard typically deploys overseas).

3. How quickly after finishing residency are you likely to be called up? We all finish around July 1 every year. Could be awkward to be 1 month into new job and then get called up?

Yep. The amount of heads up varies by op tempo. There tends to be a fair bit of notice on the Guard side usually, again, not sure of the Reserve.

5. Does anyone have more info on how you do your time? I know some guys that never do monthly drills for instance. Can you do it all in a longer once a year stint? At VA hospitals? etc?

The never-drilling thing you are talking about is during Medical school (MDSSP) and residency (STRAP) and varies by type of service (guard or reserve) and state (if Guard). I drilled most every weekend through medical school and residency, though I was allowed to skip now and again as needed for education's sake. I hear of some states in which residents/students didn't drill at all or just studied, but that was not my experience.

As a physician and psychiatrist, expect to drill every month, with rare allowances being made to skip and makeup another time, depending on your command. Again, I'm Guard, but as a psychiatrist, I spend most of my drill doing psychiatric evaluations for soldiers who are sent to me from around the state by their unit's Behavioral Health Officer. The BHOs tend to handle much of the lower level stuff and save the referrals to me for the more complex or confusing pathology. I diagnose and make recommendations for MND, functional limitations, and outpatient treatment. I also get called in for investigations for skiers making threats and the like. I also conduct training for my state's BHOs and occasionally 68x's.

You will be drilling monthly or potentially SUTA four day stretches here and there. You will not be able to serve your entire commitment in annual blocks. That's not your job. And you will do your job for the Army, not the VA.

6. Is it possible to convert from Reserves to Active Duty and in doing that would you decrease your total time and if so, by how much?

You can volunteer but it needs to be approved by your command (almost always is, from what I've seen). It does not reduce your time. E.g. If you owe 8 years of drilling and volunteer Active Army for 4 years, you'd still owe 4 years drilling when you finished.

7. What sort of positions are very compatible with STRAP/Reserves? I hear the VA is a good fit. I've thought about doing short locum tenens but this would depend on how much lead time we have if activated.

VA is very accommodating. So are many large group practices. Locum Tenens would be my last choice, as you wouldn't have the same protection and wouldn't get paid military leave

8. Is it possible to do a fellowship and take STRAP or HPLRP during that fellowship? (I don't think this is possible from what I recall but curious again). Does anyone try to do a 1-year fellowship with a program knowing there is a possibility they'd get called up? (I could see this being possible in Psych since a lot of fellowship slots are open/vacant).

Yes. Unless the tempo is pretty heavy, the army will try to defer deploying you out of fellowship until you finish.