AMEDD army professional management command

[QuinnB]

Hello everyone,

I searched throughout the military medicine posts and couldn't find any details on this. My situation is as follows:

BC infectious disease doc, trying to join army reserve as 61G, to serve and maybe get involved in some of the vaccine work (HIV, Zika, Ebola) that the army has been doing. I am tied to California for family reasons and cannot move to San Antonio or Maryland to get a full time position. No prior military service. No need to take loan repayment or anything like that. No need for further clinical training.

Anyway, i was set up to join a unit, but apparently they no longer have a need for a 61G (but do for 61F, which the recruiter has tried to push me into several times and its not my cup of tea). They said I could join as part of the AMEDD Army professional management command. Looking on these posts, online and everywhere else, i can't seem to find very much information about this program. For instance, how do people get qualifying good years? The recruiter told me you just drill with whomever you want and you can get credit for CME, helping with recruiting, teaching, conferences, etc...You just go to Georgia for 2 weeks once a year to drill together.

Can anyone speak to the positives and negatives of this route? If I like it, I would be inclined to stay on for more than a few years.

Thanks everyone.

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[d2305]

I'm not sure what NH San Diego has in regard to ID, but it may be something to look at. I'm sure they have a large HIV + patient load. A lot of tropical disease patients end up there also.

 

[DeadCactus]

I doubt joining the Reserve or Guard will do anything to plug you in with the people doing vaccine work. If anything, the time you spend drilling will just take away free time you could have spent pursuing that goal. As far as I can tell, AMEDD Army Professional Management Command is just a unit you would be joining created to keep physicians in the Reserve when there is no local need for their specialty. The bulk of your military activity will most likely still be annual physicals and online training. Opportunities to do cool stuff happen during the 2 weeks of annual training, when you request to go to schools, or when you deploy. How much cool stuff you get to do depends on what you consider cool, what unit you join, and how much extra time you're willing to spend. Whether you should join he APMC as a 61G, join the local unit as a 61F, join a different branch entirely, or not join at all depends on what your specific goals are for joining the military.

 

[labchimp]

Non-prior service medical subspecialist here - I'm currently attached to APMC and I would echo what DeadCactus has said above.

There are some advantages to APMC. The requirements are pretty casual- stay "green" on your readiness stuff, get a good year, do what they tell you and they essentially leave you alone. If you don't want to drill this month, nobody GAF. Getting a good year isn't that hard - you just need to stay on top of it. You are exactly correct about getting points towards a good year - you'll send in a DA1380 form for military related activities. You're right that online mandatory training, health readiness stuff, APFTs, training with other units (RST), rounding in a hospital that has a training agreement with the military, some CME or recruiting stuff all count. After getting attached to APMC you will attend a Solider Focused Readiness Review (SFRR) in Forest Park that go over all of this stuff. You still belong to your unit of assignment and are expected to attend AT and other mandatory training with them. The IDT travel and LIK housing programs can help defer these costs.

There are a few drawbacks from being part of APMC. The advantage of being left alone is a drawback as well. Especially for non-prior service, the army can be somewhat difficult to navigate and your career is self directed. Sometimes administratively things can be slow and/or disorganized in APMC. Don't get me wrong - there are some great people there but it is a big bureaucracy that is also on the other side of the country. That can make for getting problems fixed more difficult. You many not get the networking, mentorship and camaraderie of drilling with a local TPU and hearing about opportunities for cool stuff. But don't worry, if your number is up to mobilize/deploy - they will find you.

If you get attached to the APMC and you want a more "Army" experience, you can always find and transfer into a 61F slot at a local TPU for a different experience.

Good luck and keep on seeking out and asking questions to other MC folks that can tell you about their experiences and how they achieved them.

 

[DeadCactus]

What sort of CME can you count toward a DA1380?

 

[labchimp]

What sort of CME can you count toward a DA1380?

Ha ha - that's a good question. It's been changing and I just heard from APMC that HRC is no longer awarding points for CME other than those in the ATRRs course catalog. Online CME used to count for points - now it doesn't. If a CME event attended is "approved duty" then you can get points/pay. Go Army