Army National Guard or Air National Guard for medical school

[jsat]

So, I am from a state where I have heard the guard will pay for 100% of tuition at Uconn for medical school. I have many questions about exactly how this commitment works.

1) I have heard that if you don't take any of the MDSSP, etc. you can be done with your commitment to the guard before you are even done with residency? This to me doesn't make sense because it seems like you would have never even been useful

2) If I go to Uconn for medical school, but then take a residency out of state is it easy to transfer even after Connecticut paid for tuition via SEAP?

3) Does it matter what residency I end up deciding on? Will it make a difference if I pick neurosurgery or internal medicine?

4) This one I have not seen answered at all. If your goal is to be a cardiologist and you do your internal medicine residency can you get straight into cardiology fellowship like a normal resident? Or do you need approval via the guard? OR do you have to serve as the internist first to be a useful reservist finally?

I came here because my recruiter seems like a very lost soul dealing with a medical student. Thanks for any and all help!

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[DeadCactus]

Unless you happen to luck out and have some random Connecticut Guard member stroll through the forum, you're going to have to do your own reading and research to figure out the rules surrounding their tuition reimbursement. Talk to the recruiters, read the regulations, and talk to the medical schools finance and military liaison people.

If the state and unit are willing to accept you as a medical student without any incentive, then yes your drilling obligation is done 6 years after you sign. You'll have another 2 years in the inactive reserve and then have to formally retire your commission or you default to staying in the inactive reserve. But once you put your name on the proverbial "list" of volunteers, just remember that you've now volunteered to put yourself ahead of 99.5% of the population on the list of who gets to go to Russia, China, Korea, Iran, or wherever the next big conflict flairs up.

The Guard can't limit the residency you do or whether you do a fellowship. That's the benefit of the Guard and Reserve, the military doesn't own you (as much) outside of drill and training. Your civilian career is your own business including what you train in and when.

 

[right500]

It looks like UConn writes down the cost of tuition rather than the Guard paying the school. National Guard & State Veterans Tuition Waiver | Veterans Affairs and Military Programs