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[Helpful Troll]

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long post, but I'd really appreciate some feedback. I'm going into my MSIV year in Army ROTC, and I'm weighing the pros and cons of going active vs going NG/Reserves. I'm currently applying to med schools this cycle, and I need to make my final decision on component at the start of the next school year.

I've done some research over the past few months and talked to an active AMEDD recruiter and NG special branch recruiter. Here's where I'm at right now:

Active w/ Education Delay:
Pros:
- Don't have to worry much about Army stuff while in med school
- Get to serve on active as a doctor, see the world, etc.
- Potentially apply for HPSP to get med school paid for

Cons:
- Ed delay by itself doesn't pay for med school, so I would still need loans if I don't get HPSP
- Have to do a military residency
- Service commitment for HPSP + ROTC is 8 years after residency, not sure if I'm willing to make that commitment
- There's always the possibility that my ed delay doesn't get approved and I get branched needs of the Army

Guard/Reserve:
Pros:
- Civilian residency and career while still serving and being able to deploy
- Option of taking MDSSP, STRAP, HPLRP to help pay for med school

Cons:
- Drilling during med school could take up time from studying

For Guard/Reserve, would I be restricted to what med schools I can apply to based on whether or not there's an available med student unit nearby? How would I find out where these units are?

Based on the information I have now, I'm leaning towards NG/Reserve. However I wanted to get some first hand perspectives from actual active and reserve doctors here that could maybe sway me one way or another. If any of my information is incorrect, please let me know as well. Thanks in advance for any help!

rotcmed1 your list is great!

Active with ED Con - you are required to apply but you may not get a Military Residency and should dual apply civilian and military. The numbers are small but it does happen. This occurs most often for specialties that have a higher need than milmed residency slots available. Your Con regarding branch assignment based on needs of the service - The ROTC Ed Delay selection occurs prior to the branch board for ROTC cadets - ask your PMS for the timeline. If not selected for Ed Delay, you would be assigned branch based on your position on the OML, not needs of service without regard to OML.

Ed Delay Con - ftfy - There's always the possibility that I don't get accepted to med school and I get branched needs of the Army. This happens to a few every year.

I would add some pros and cons-
Reserve/NG Pro:
- Option to take a gap year if not accepted to med school immediately. You do risk having to attend BOLC in this gap year though.

Active Duty ED Con:
- If not accepted to med school in the first application year you will be reassigned 'needs of the service' as your initial commission will be as branch unassigned. Med school acceptances can be a 'crap shoot'.

Active Duty ED Pro: - this may apply to Army only, not AF/Navy
- Authorized to attend medical school on your dime (without HPSP) therefore not increasing your AD commitment for ROTC and HPSP.
- Authorized AD rotations annually during med school even if not participating in HPSP.

For NG/Reserve you are not restricted to medical schools with a med student unit nearby.

If you are a competitive med school applicant, complete the HPSP application early/on time, and get a med school acceptance you will get the scholarship - they know you will have an 8+ year commitment after residency. Start the process early if it is your chosen direction.

If you are a competitive med school applicant and your Ed Delay packet reflects that, you will likely get the Ed Delay. Pay attention to details (timing) on the Ed Delay packet to ensure it includes your MCAT score, clinical experience, medically relevant extracurriculars, positive PMS and other LORs, ...

 

[deleted480308]

Don’t forget twice the service obligations for mdssp/strap

 

[DMBandFan86]

If you've read through this forum before then I assume you know most of the standard information about the various options of active duty vs reserves.

AR or NG: if you take MDSSP in the AR you will be attached to the APMC in Georgia. You will not actively drill with any unit unless you go out of your way to do so. So this will not interrupt your studies. If you take MDSSP in the NG then you will drill with a local unit every month and be expected to attend ECT. Some commands let medical students do flex drill but that is not guaranteed. You could then take STRAP if you match to a critical wartime specialty and decide about HPLRP in residency.

HPLRP: you won't get any benefits until residency, and I believe you don't actually get your first payment until your PGY-3 year. I also don't think you can only exclusively take HPLRP during your training phase (medical school + residency without MDSSP or STRAP) until you become a board certified physician.

 

[DMBandFan86]

Another question: if I go NG/Reserves now and don't take any financial incentives, could I still serve on AD after residency? I know licensed doctors can direct commission AD. If I don't take any scholarships, my contract would be up by the time residency is over. Could I essentially direct commission active after that? If I did that could I still do AD loan repayment?

what do you mean direct commission? I am assuming you will already be an officer... If your speciality is wanted by the army then you can probably go active duty pretty easy depending on your HR personnel.

If you don't take any incentives during medical school or residency then you are at the mercy of the Army. As long as you are okay with frequent interruptions to your eduction and training and likely being pushed back months-to-years then you can decide to not take any incentives. Most people decide the comfort of not being deployable and not drilling (AR) with the added benefit of financial incentives are better than being delayed several times during medical school and residency. Depending on your school if you miss a few weeks for training you may have to repeat the whole year. Thats a lot of extra time and money to put out.

 

[DMBandFan86]

Yeah I don't know how it works without the incentive program. You would have an MOS with the army and also eventually become a licensed physician in 7+ years. The military would still make you fulfill the roll of your current MOS until you get released by your command to slot into a different MOS as a physician. That may not happen right away. Of course you may fulfill your contract obligation by the time you complete residency so it may not matter. But if the army prefers you to be an infantry officer they will keep you like that until you finish your contract. The benefit of taking an incentives programs makes sure you become a physician in the military.

Also the medical student status isn't guaranteed in the NG (as I understand it) and is command dependent.

 

[notdeadyet]

1. For every year you serve, you get about $30K off your federal loans (give or take) because they take out a bunch of money to put towards taxes.

2a. It gets complicated. The ARNG can let you transfer to to active duty. From what I've heard, they typically do. Your 8 years would count towards retirement, but you would earn proportionally less when you actually retire. You'd get more than half what someone who did 20 years will get, but not by a whole bunch. It depends how often you deploy during your Guard time, how many points you earn, etc.

2b. Can't say. Not active. But my understanding is that they offered a lot less than ARNG, but I'd check that out, because I looked into it YEARS ago.

2c. No, your years towards your 8 year service obligation carries over. But to go active, you need to sign up for at least a 2 year hitch. Again, I was told this a couple of years ago. You'd need to check this out.

3. Yep. Do your 8 years in drilling status and you can leave at will.