Considering going national guard as MS4 or PGY1 matching EM.

[power818]

I am a rising MS4 going EM, and I am looking into going into the NG and would like some perspective from everyone here. I have reached out to a recruiter, so hopefully I'll get some answers there as well.

To give you some back story, I have considered the military off and on since high school. It was always a deal breaker for my wife (high school sweetheart) as her dad was an SF operator when she was growing up and didn't want that lifestyle for her kids. We've been talking about the NG more recently, and she doesn't have the same aversions to it. It's something I think I would enjoy, but I also want to maximize the incentives I can get.

1. I'll be graduating nearly debt free, so loan repayment won't be a benefit for me. I have contemplated the differences in possibly trying to get in this year and get 6-12 months of MDSSP+STRAP in residency vs. just STRAP. To my understanding, with only 3 years of EM residency, taking STRAP shouldn't extend the total 8 year commitment should I want out then. I have some time off in the spring, so if I got in early, I could possibly knock out the basic officer course before residency.

2. What do deployments look like for NG physicians? Do they vary based on specialty, or is everyone just a field surgeon?

3. What determines the unit you get assigned to, and how do you find that out? If I do go in during 4th year, would I be guaranteed to be reassigned to a unit in the city that I match into?

4. What does drill look like for physicians both during and after residency?

Any thoughts on these points or anything about being a NG physician in general would be greatly appreciated.

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[DMBandFan86]

So you’d have 6 years payback after training and will have served 10 years if you join MS4 when your commitment is over. It can also take 6+ months to resign (in my case took 1 extra year in the AR)

Depending on policy and your role you could deploy 0-3 times or more often if volunteering for missions. Those could be 3 months or more depending on NG policy at the time, your mission and role (for example could be stateside for vaccines, overseas or wartime). Your experience varies greatly based on your mission and purpose of the deployment. You drill just like everyone else if you want a good year to get enough points. You also have 2 week’s annual training as well.

Field surgeons have been substantially decreased. They may be getting phased out completely, but I don’t really know. You would be EM with a possible second AOC. Which EM is basically a well qualified field surgeon for a lot of wartime care and roles.

You get placed in a unit based on availability and need for your AOC. If for some reason your AOC isn’t available for your rank then you could be staffed as field surgeon or PA. Your experience on drill will also vary greatly based on your unit and command. You can be highly involved in soldier care (PCP type stuff) or not.