Another GI Bill for Fellowship Thread...

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SuperSoccer19

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There was a post on this earlier this year and it seems like yes, you can do this. I also even see it advertised on a few medical/GME websites that as long as it is ACGME accredited, this is fine.

However, I cannot find anything specific to this in writing. I will be doing a fellowship upon leaving active duty and there was concern that this would be considered "double dipping" since fellowships were salary. I *thought* this would qualify as on the job training/apprenticeship, and it seemed like I should be fine from reading the OTJ training booklet, but there is nothing official on using this for fellowship or even residency.

Does anyone have an actual policy or something in writing from the VA on this?

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Can you PM me, too? I sent my packet in, and it's now sitting in an office awaiting the stamps off a thousand bureaucrats. If anyone has an issue, it'd be nice to have dinner references.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Can you PM me, too? I sent my packet in, and it's now sitting in an office awaiting the stamps off a thousand bureaucrats. If anyone has an issue, it'd be nice to have dinner references.
Not personal experience...I'm waiting to hear back from JSBGME this year before I know whether it's something I need to even worry about...but advice I got from someone who did it
 
Fellowships should be accredited as IHL, not OJT. As long as you are not drawing a BAH and you can get your school/hospital to fill out the 3 forms of so, you should be good to go. BTW, don't call a fellowship a fellowship - just call it a residency in communicating with the VA. If your program is not listed at all with the VA, you may want to contact your state education department to get the ball rolling. At least this is how it works in NY.

-ex 61R
 
Thanks for the info so far. I will be calling my school's certifying official to discuss further and wanted to know as much as I could going into this. It seemed like it would be considered OJT, but the benefits would be better for IHL if I am reading it right. Ill post an update.
 
It should be IHL. Also, I'm assuming we are talking about the MGIB and not post-9/11 right? I used the MGIB during residency, which is normally the way to go. But, you might want to keep in mind that if the BAH is high enough in the county that you want to live it might be more beneficial to try and use Post-9/11. The first step is you have to know if the institution is in the VA system called WEAMS to use the MGIB. Even if it's not, and the fellowship is associated with an IHL than the VA rep at the school can work on creating it for you in the VA system. I knew someone that did a fellowship in Heme/Onc and had it created as a "residency in hematology" in the WEAMS system. Keep in mind a couple of things. If it's not in the system you can probably get it in with enough time and effort, but note this will take a lot of time. I would start working on this as soon as you get accepted to your fellowship. The second thing is that even if you don't get it approved in time it will retro pay (should). Follow these steps.

1. Google 'WEAMS' and go to the first link ( http://inquiry.vba.va.gov/weamspub/buildSearchInstitutionCriteria.do )
2. You can search for the school by name
3. Find the school/hospital's name on the list and click it
4. Click on the 'Programs' link (to the right of Institution Profile)
5. There should be a link called 'Institution of Higher Learning' on this page... click it
6. On that page you'll see which programs within that school/hospital are approved
 
Thanks again for the reply. I've since also heard from two of my former fellow interns who are currently using this for fellowship, so it definitely is possible. I have submitted my paperwork to the GME and located the "certifying official." I think part of the concern in my case is that the fellowship is funded by the VA, so would it be considered double dipping to receive both and even calling a few VA reps I cannot get a straight answer to this. It seems like no since the money is coming from different pots, but who the heck knows.
 
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