Bonuses during residency after GMO
Started by sonofva
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No. That bonus is only for physicians who practice independently.
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If you think 15k is a big deal talk to the people who no longer can sign multi-year pays which could mean a nearly 100,000 a year paycut for the last four years of your military career....how you like them apples 🙂
Not one bit! Haha
My advice would be to treat the extra $15k (~$10k after taxes) as extra discretionary income (not to be incorporated into your regular budget). I used it for escroe on my house.
Why aren't people able to sign MSPs?
Many people will sign an MSP at the 8yrs of service mark, prior to completion of their obligation (especially fellowship trained docs). Those people get the MSP now, but forgo it for at most the last 4 years of their career.
It's a big financial decision many have to make. Do I take the money now, when I know it's offered....or do I wait until later when my initial obligation is up with the hopes the MSP doesn't go down or away completely.
Exactly.
Most people I know who've made the decision to stay took the MSP money right away. I did. Part of my rationale is that money now is worth more than money later. My last two years will be ISP only.
Which service you're in may matter too. I hear that Army & AF may not let people renegotiate (sign a new MSP) in the midst of an existing MSP, but at least for now people in the Navy are able to do that.
I guess I don't understand something about MSP. It was my understanding that you just kept signing up for it until you were going to retire. Why not have it for the last 2-4 years of service?
It's because you can sign up for it after 8 years of credible medical corps service (and a few other requirements) even if you haven't fulfilled other obligations. Many times, the MSP obligation will extend one's overall obligation, tacked onto the back in, but the money starts getting paid right away. The rationale is that money now is worth more than money later. Eventually you have to stop signing up for it if you ever want to separate or retire.
For example, let's say there's a USUHS graduate with no prior service who completes a residency a 4-year residency and reaches the 8 year point. At this moment, he is eligible for MSP, he has paid off his residency GME obligation, and he still owes 3 years from USUHS. He signs a 4-year MSP, incurring an additional 4 year commitment, which starts to pay immediately. So now he owes 7 more years, but the MSP is paid over the first 4 years of those 7. If he wanted to separate at the 15 year mark, then he will have to take a pay cut from years 4-7.
If you wait to sign up for MSP until after your other obligations are fulfilled or use the fellowship "loophole", then you can continue collecting MSP until you're out.
But if you're in a civilian high-paying specialty, and you're considering getting out just as soon as you complete your usuhs payback, then you wouldn't want to take the msp. Or at least, you should consider if the 4-year msp is worth more than 4-year delta between civlian and .mil salaries, right?
Sure. There are myriad reasons why one would choose not to sign up for MSP.
All medical corps officers get some form of special pay, but the most substantial ones aren't available right away. The specifics have been covered innumerable times before, so I won't rehash them here, but regarding MSP you must have 1) completed a residency and 2) 8 years medical corps credible service or completed your ADSO.
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a good website to bookmark for Navy folk: http://www.med.navy.mil/bumed/Special_Pay/Pages/default.aspx
Short version:
Everyone gets base pay, housing allowance (BAH), subsistence allowance (BAS). BAH + BAS are not taxable income.
All doctors get a monthly "variable special pay" (VSP) which is $100 for interns, then goes up, then goes down.
Doctors not in training get $15K additional special pay (ASP) yearly, usually July 1st. GMOs get this. Interns/residents don't.
Doctors who have completed residency get specialty-specific "incentive special pay" (ISP), supposed to be paid in October, often late by a month or two. Ranges from about $20K - $36K depending on specialty.
Doctors who are board certified get "board certified pay" (BCP) which is a pittance considering the value and ordeal of board certification, it's usually a bit over $200/month, paid monthly from the day you get specialty boarded.
The above don't generally extend service obligations. ASP and ISP are one-year agreements to stay on active duty. That one year is paid off concurrently with medical school, residency, or other obligations.
Those with 8 years of creditable service, OR who have already paid back their educational obligations, can sign "multi year special pay" (MSP-ISP) contracts. These are 2, 3, or 4 year agreements to stay on active duty and this time IS added to any time still owed, and is served in addition to that other time is paid back. Depending on specialty and contract length this MSP-ISP might be somewhere between $40K - $120K per year, give or take.
You have to "apply" or, more accurately, you have to sign the contracts. It's relatively painless. I just show up with my medical license, the guy prints the contract, I sign and then get a copy. Voila.
I see. So this bonus (ASP/ISP) doesn't add any additional years to my ADSO, correct? If I receive ISP every year during the seven years after residency, would my USUHS ADSO still remain 7 years post-residency? If that's the case, why not just make it automatic? Why would anyone NOT sign up?
MASP (AKA ASP) typically doesn't add time to one's obligation. It's a one year contract, usually effective 1 July. Because most people finish residency on 30 June and therefore enter repayment on 1 July, this contract superimposes nicely on pre-existing commitments.
You are not eligible to sign up for ISP until three months after completing your first residency. Again, most people will finish residency on 30 June, meaning the ISP contract is effective from 1 October through 30 September. This will not add time as long as you are not in your last year of payback, but if you were otherwise eligible to separate on 1 July, then signing the ISP contract the preceding October would add 3 months to your obligation.
For example, I will separating this coming summer. I did not sign my ISP contract this past October because it would have kept me in the military for an additional 3 months. Or, if you prefer numbers, I took a 22% pay cut in my final year so that I could separate "on time".
Depending on how long you stay in, it is possible to realign your ISP/MSP to the summer, but that typically won't occur if you separate after your initial ADSO. Also, these scenarios are just the common ones. People with prior service or who are academy graduates will frequently have separation dates that don't line up nicely with the academic calendar.
So, as you can see, it's not a given that MASP/ISP won't extend your obligation. You must weigh all factors and decide if signing them makes the most sense for you, which - of course - you can't do unless you understand all of the implications. And that's probably the biggest take-home of this post. You are your best career manager, and it's incumbent on you to learn about and understand all of these processes. The Army will give precisely zero $h*ts if you want to get out of a signed contract, even if you're willing to give the money back.
Thanks for the clarifications!
It seems that ISP will only extend your ADSO if you are already in your final year. And even with an extension, it's only on the magnitude of a few months.
That was very well explained, thank you. I was under the impression you had to wait for all of your commitment to be up before you could sign up for an MSP.
