Advice regarding joining during fellowship

[GAAA]

Hi all, I wanted to see your thoughts on my situation regarding joining the army. Sorry if this is to specific of a question but any feedback/ thoughts are appreciated.

So. I'm 37yo, in my Cardiac anesthesia fellowship and doing a critical care fellowship next year. So I'll be done around 08/2017. I'm on J1 VISA, so I'll be going through the MAVNI program (my understanding it is only in the army for physicians) . So by the time I'm done I'll have 6 years of training experience in the US.

Now before people start telling me I could stay through deferent/easer ways!!! I know, but this way I'll feel that I real belong. It might sound weird but that is how I view it. I have been treated with dignity in the US during my 8 years, more then I could've dreamed off where I came from. So, having said that.

Do you think it is better to join know or wait tell I'm done? The point here is that the MAVNI program is officially till 09/16.

Should I join active vs reserve? If I go reserve and work in a VA hospital I'll be serving the women and men who have served our country using both my cardiac and critical care background and during deployment I would serve who are serving now. If I go active I'm afraid the 2 year fellowship will go to waste, taking into account what is posted by other members.

Do they usually let you finish your fellowship or is there a chance that I get pulled out? The recruiter I talked to said I could finish. Should/could I ask for it in writing?

How do the kids deal with long deployments? I have an 8&4yo

If I go active which Army hospitals have cardiac surgery and critical care? I know the AF has one in San Francisco and the Navy has one in San Diego

If you have any thoughts regarding this please don't hesitate to write it here please

Cheers
G

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[DeadCactus]

I'm in the Guard so I'm biased but the Guard/Reserve to me is by far the way to go for physicians wanting to serve in the military. You get to make a civilian salary, live where you want, practice medicine in your full scope of practice, and deploy when needed. The VA could be a particularly good set-up. Makes dealing with deployment easier and I suspect there are plenty of old veterans needing cardiac surgery to keep you busy though maybe not the level of pathology an academic gig would have. In comparison, on active duty you'll move every few years, care for a relatively healthy patient population getting minor procedures, and be burdened with administrative nonsense. I really don't know why the military medical system is not largely a reserve system. It's ridiculous how much of the military medical force, from the medics to the physicians, are wasted in positions that do not put their skills to use.

 

[Shikima]

The VA will pay you your wage while doing Reserve/Guard related duties.

 

[notdeadyet]

The VA will pay you your wage while doing Reserve/Guard related duties.

That may vary. I was looking over a VA job offer and their military leave was less than many other employers.

The VA position offered 14 days of NG duties, which covers just over your annual training. It may not cover all the MUTA 6 and MUTA 8's your Guard/Reserve duties may require.

As point of comparison, I looked at an academic job that offered 30 days of military leave.

 

[GAAA]

That may vary. I was looking over a VA job offer and their military leave was less than many other employers.

The VA position offered 14 days of NG duties, which covers just over your annual training. It may not cover all the MUTA 6 and MUTA 8's your Guard/Reserve duties may require.

As point of comparison, I looked at an academic job that offered 30 days of military leave.

Intresting, so it's different from one place to another. I'm assuming I have to ask as part of the contract for these days?
Sorry but I thought other then the 2 weeks a year training you only do 1 weekend a month. How will the MUTA 6/8 fit into this?

Thanks




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[notdeadyet]

Intresting, so it's different from one place to another. I'm assuming I have to ask as part of the contract for these days?

I doubt there's much regional variation. I have a hunch the 14 days/year is the standard policy (it showed up when I googled it) but more time off is up to getting approved.

The one-weekend-per-month is theory. Now and then there are three day drills that take on a Friday or Monday. It depends on your state and the unit you are in.

If limiting your commitment to one weekend per month and two weeks a year is important, I would think long and hard about joining. There is a good chance that you will sometimes be asked to do more.





Sorry but I thought other then the 2 weeks a year training you only do 1 weekend a month. How will the MUTA 6/8 fit into this?

Thanks




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DeadCactus]

Intresting, so it's different from one place to another. I'm assuming I have to ask as part of the contract for these days?
Sorry but I thought other then the 2 weeks a year training you only do 1 weekend a month. How will the MUTA 6/8 fit into this?

Thanks

It averages out to one weekend a month but some months it might be 3 days of drill balanced out by a 1 day drill weekend another month. So where having a weekend off to drill may not be an issue depending on your residency, you may find yourself trying to figure out how to get a Friday or Monday off of work if you used all your military day on annual training...