Army Any bad experiences with the National Guard while in med school/residency?

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SKA124

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I'm looking into commissioning into the National Guard as a medical student, taking advantage of the MDSSP, and potentially STRAP in residency. Now, I've seen a lot of people mention that COs are good with letting med students and residents be flexible with their weekend drills, and waived the annual training requirement.

Is this the norm? I've noticed some people have said it's on a case-by-case basis, so has anyone actually had a bad experience?

If you did have a bad experience, how much of a detriment do you think your National Guard was to your medical school education and residency prospects, and what long-term negative effects do you think it had? Lastly, was it worth it?

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I was told openly by a few programs it was a concern for them and a few specifically loved it. The ROI in terms of required payback time is crappy and I’d only suggest it if you absolutely need the cash flow or absolutely cannot handle not being in the service
 
I was told openly by a few programs it was a concern for them and a few specifically loved it. The ROI in terms of required payback time is crappy and I’d only suggest it if you absolutely need the cash flow or absolutely cannot handle not being in the service
Interesting. Yeah, that's the vibe that I was getting overall.
The plan as of now is to finish med school, residency, and any potential fellowships, then after settling in as an attending, I can think about commissioning then. Maybe I could think about commissioning in the later years of residency/fellowship depending on how I feel.
 
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