coast guard question

[glamqueen]

I have a friend who is set on doing reserves for Coast Guard as a way to fund some of her tuition for med school. Is this a bad idea? They seem really excited about her joining up and they know why she wants to do it. Anything I should warn her about it? She knows I am AF HPSP, but she felt this was the better route for her. Anything I should warn her about? I have a bad feeling about it for her, so I'd love to toss info her way if I can.

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[Coastie2Doc]

I have a friend who is set on doing reserves for Coast Guard as a way to fund some of her tuition for med school. Is this a bad idea? They seem really excited about her joining up and they know why she wants to do it. Anything I should warn her about it? She knows I am AF HPSP, but she felt this was the better route for her. Anything I should warn her about? I have a bad feeling about it for her, so I'd love to toss info her way if I can.

I am active duty Coast Guard right now and heading to USUHS (Navy) in the fall. I am not sure how your friend is going to get the Coast Guard to fund medical school, unless she is only talking about using Tuition Assistance. TA will pay up to $4,500/year. There is no Coast Guard HPSP, since our doctors are Public Health Service.

Not sure what you are worried about though. Let me know if you have specific questions.

 

[glamqueen]

I think she is going to do that plus the GI bill. I'm only worried, because unlike the army's national guard program that seems to be built for med students, her program could technically mobilize her if a natural disaster happened and take her away from school. That's all. I think the Coast Guard is awesome itself, but I'm only worried that not being with a structured program might hurt her in case another ex. Katrina happens. Thoughts? And thanks for the quick reply Coastie2Doc!

 

[DrMetal]

I think she is going to do that plus the GI bill. I'm only worried, because unlike the army's national guard program that seems to be built for med students, her program could technically mobilize her if a natural disaster happened and take her away from school. That's all. I think the Coast Guard is awesome itself, but I'm only worried that not being with a structured program might hurt her in case another ex. Katrina happens. Thoughts? And thanks for the quick reply Coastie2Doc!

I though tuition assitance was only an active-duty thing. And by GI bill, are you talking about the reserve GI bill (which isn't much). You're certainly right that she could be mobilized. Her school would have to comply and allow her to take a leave of absence, but this could set her back by as much as a year.

I don't think this is a good idea. ANG would definitely be the better program. Or if she really has an affinity for the CG, would be better to serve on AD, then go to med school and use the regular GI bill.

 

[DogFaceMedic]

I though tuition assitance was only an active-duty thing. And by GI bill, are you talking about the reserve GI bill (which isn't much). You're certainly right that she could be mobilized. Her school would have to comply and allow her to take a leave of absence, but this could set her back by as much as a year.

I don't think this is a good idea. ANG would definitely be the better program. Or if she really has an affinity for the CG, would be better to serve on AD, then go to med school and use the regular GI bill.

THere is tuition assistance for Reserves without active duty. I did it in grad school. But, that means the person is a "mobilizable asset," which happened oddly enough after 9/11. If the friend really likes boats, then possible USNR. The USNR, USAFR, USAR, and NG all have similar tuition assistance programs, that both pay better and are non-deployable during school and even residency.

If the USCG has some med school assistance programs, it is worth looking into because it may protect time while in school, as well.

 

[Perrotfish]

If I understand this right, your friend is going to put herself in a position to not just interupt her medical training with a deployment, but also to be deployed as something other than a doctor. That sounds like a HORRIBLE idea. Heck, how would this even work? Weekends aren't things you're guarenteed to have free for training in medical school, especially after 2nd year. Also medical school isn't something you can leave and come back to. If she gets deployed for 6 months, she would still have to do the full year over (and maybe pay an extra year of tuition).

Tell you friend to either take out loans, or join a scholarship program (Military or otherwise) that is meant to produce doctors.

 

[glamqueen]

Thank you guys for responding. I'm going to make sure she sees your points. I want to support her decision to go military, but I also worry she is putting herself in the position to interrupt her med school training.