ARNG - thoughts on diff National Guard bases for residents?

[veejl]

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Hello all,

As my time to submit my match list draws near, I was hoping people could chime in and give me some feedback/inside scoop on drilling in different cities:

San Francisco?
San Diego?
Boston?
Chicago?
Nashville?


I am currently attached to the MEDDET in Birmingham and have nothing but positive experiences about that unit, the commanding officers, and their flexibility and willingness to accommodate medical students. They are definitely willing to let us study during drills if need to, and really make us feel welcome.

I'm curious to where the medical units are in those cities (or how far away), where ASR students were drilling and what was expected of them, etc.

TIA.

 

[notdeadyet]

What is your specialty?

 

[veejl]

Anesthesiology

 

[notdeadyet]

Oi. Is your chain of command familiar with the fact that you ended up going into anethesiology? The reason I ask is that most states have few if any slots for anesthesiologists.

Since the Guard is combat and combat-support focused, they don't have a lot of positions for people like anesthesiologists, PM&R, radiologists, etc. For most, this isn't a huge problem, because most of the physician slots in the Guard are for Field Surgeon (62B), which can be filled by any specialty except for anesthesia, psychiatry, radiology/nuc med, and pathology. Psychiatry has plenty of slots in most states, but for most recent grads I know going into anesthesia, radiology, and pathology, they were told they had to switch over to the Army Reserve.

There were no slots that could be filled by anesthesia in California last year after graduation.

 

[veejl]

Hm, interesting. Yes, they've known since last summer that I was planning on anesthesia, but no mention of slots/reserve/etc.

Some random questions:
- What if I do not want to switch over to the reserves?
- Does switching change my obligation (increase/decrease/etc)?
- Does the reserve have a flex training policy as well?

 

[notdeadyet]

Yes, they've known since last summer that I was planning on anesthesia, but no mention of slots/reserve/etc.

Interesting. Some states may be loose with the rules on who can fill what roles. Some states also seem pretty loose with policy as a general rule. California isn't one of them.

- What if I do not want to switch over to the reserves?

I don't know. I've never done it. I'd just ask.

- Does switching change my obligation (increase/decrease/etc)?

No. ARNG to Reserve is a flat switch. No additional obligation, no time for TIG, rank, etc.

- Does the reserve have a flex training policy as well?

Yes. It's the same one that covers the ARNG and Reserve.

 

[eflix]

I matched into emergency medicine in NYC and will be transferring to the NYARNG. If anyone has recommendations for units to drill with or is willing to share their experience, I would also appreciate a post or PM.