Air National Guard for prior AF Active duty doc

[Fiend]

I separated from the AF last year after 4 years as a flight surgeon as payback for my HPSP. I am entering a civilian anesthesia residency next year and am considering (gasp!) joining the ANG and doing their residency stipend program. I know I know - I never thought I would be connected with the service again, but things change.

Anyway, I am in the very early prelim stages right now. Apparently the resident still does one weekend/month and 15 days a year (as opposed to the FAP program where I believe you are inactive while you are in training). The ANG recruiter told me that there is "no way you would be pulled out of residency."

Does anyone out there with experience/knowledge about the ANG and the role of the residency stipend program want to chime it? You can PM me as well.

Please no flames but healthy criticism welcome. Also, if you are sweet on the ANG and have had positive experiences with the residency stipend program, please feel free to share.

Thanks.

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[qqq]

I cannot comment on the specifics of the stipend program, but I'll just offer some general thoughts . . . It is sometimes difficult to get accurate information from active duty folks. At one point in time, I was going to go into the Air National Guard for my home state. They were/are really hurting for doctors, so I believe that I would not have been activated had I decided to join. I spoke with not only the recruiter, but also my future immediate supervisor, unit, group, and wing commanders. I also spoke with the State Air Surgeon. All of them said I would not be activated because they are in such desperate need for docs. Again, this only applies to my state guard, and may not apply to yours. They had been around for a long time (as is common with the Guard) and would've been around far longer than me probably. Again, the Guard is a different animal than active duty and you just need to talk to as many relevant people as possible. You should also contact people that will be in your same unit (or base) who are also on the same program and speak to them personally. As you know, nothing is guaranteed, but I think if you talk to enough pertinent supervisors/CCs, etc., you will be able to get the information you need to make an informed decision. There are several helpful things to this situation: (1) AIR national guard (versus any other service), (2) designated scholarship for medical personnel (you will be coded as a such in the sytem), (3) freedom to choose your residency. Also, I'm sure you've already looked into this, but the amount you will benefit from the stipend is largely dependent on whether you are entering an AF critical speciality, is it not? Good luck.

 

[qqq]

Another thing to consider is that because of the Annual Tour (that is the 15 days a year thing), you may need to kind of buddy-up to your commander. What I mean is this--Let's say your unit schedules the 15 day unit-wide drill for those exact 15 days when you cannot get off from the hospital. You will need to build a good rapport so that you can do your 15 days of drill separate from the unit (do it with the unit if possible). You will be the exception, but it is definitely doable. The Guard is very flexible, but just be aware of these things going in. The good thing about the Guard is that when you build connections (and beware, this part is second-hand information), the connections may actually last because most people do their 30+ years (yea, really) with the same unit in the same state and never move.