Finishing Medical School on the Post-9/11 GI Bill

[Blacksheep31]

Hi everyone,

Figured I would write a quick synopses of my adventure in medical school as a veteran who used my Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (Chapter 33) to make it happen. I am 2 months from finishing and continuing my GME in Family Medicine. When I was scouring these forums in planing to apply to med school I couldn't find any definitive information on whether the benefits would last for the entire 4 years. The VA rep at my school wasn't even sure because most veterans use their benefits for undergraduate degrees. Many of my fellow vets had voc rehab which seems to have more comprehensive benefits but I'm not familiar with that myself.

So medical school has longer academic years than standard undergrad schedules. That left me with the question of whether my bennies would last. In short, they did. I had to skip one month of benefits during my fourth year (during Step 2 dedicated study) to stretch them out. At my school, our fourth year schedule is all based on monthly rotations so it was the easiest year to figure out how many months I needed to skip. I had 15 days of benefits left last December when tuition for Spring was due. Chapter 33 will cover tuition, fees, and housing allowance for the entire semester as long as you have one day of benefits remaining. So mission success for paying for school. Prioritize using your benefits for the times when tuition and fees are due and you should be able to squeak through.

I am the oldest student in my class. I have loved my time in school but am super stoked to start my real training in residency. I encourage many veterans to pursue medical education because it is truly a way to continue serving your community after the military. But make no mistake, medicine is service- it takes way more time and effort than other careers. If medicine is not a calling it has a tendency to wear people down, especially in today's corporation driven world. I was very anxious on my first day of school because it was so different than the last 10 years of my life on Active Duty. That nervousness passed and my medic experience helped in physical exams, patient interviews, and procedural skills. I helped my classmates gain clinical confidence and they schooled my old butt on how to study. Many people ask how my wife and kids deal with me being in medical school. I just laugh and say, "My wife likes having me around because I used to spend over half the year deployed overseas." School life balance is achievable but hard. I treated school like a job; I went to school and studied for 8 hours, came home for dinner and played with the kids, then studied for a couple hours after they were in bed. Third year was the longest hours. But fourth year, oh fourth year, has been amazing. MSIVs are like the Spec-4 Mafia of medical school. I learned grinding endurance in the military and it has served my well in school. I feel veterans in medical school are a huge asset because we bring very different perspectives and experiences compared to the average premed, which translates well in patient interactions.

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[esob]

Good info to know. I run into folks all the time that are not approved for Ch 31 and feel like the process is impossible because they don't have their full post 9/11. I tend to tell them that even if they had to borrow for a semester or two the long-term pay off is significant and the larger question is whether or not they really feel that medicine is their calling.

 

[FinallyReady]

Hi everyone,

So medical school has longer academic years than standard undergrad schedules. That left me with the question of whether my bennies would last. In short, they did. I had to skip one month of benefits during my fourth year (during Step 2 dedicated study) to stretch them out. At my school, our fourth year schedule is all based on monthly rotations so it was the easiest year to figure out how many months I needed to skip. I had 15 days of benefits left last December when tuition for Spring was due. Chapter 33 will cover tuition, fees, and housing allowance for the entire semester as long as you have one day of benefits remaining. So mission success for paying for school. Prioritize using your benefits for the times when tuition and fees are due and you should be able to squeak through.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I’m coming from a similar background (10+ years active) and am apprehensive about how it’s all going to work out. Glad to see a fellow vet thrive. Congrats!

When I spoke with my school’s GI Bill certifier, she made it seem a lot more complicated. If I remember correctly, she said that I’d need to claim just six units/credits for an earlier semester (likely in third year) so that the tuition would be paid for those four months, but the BAH wouldn’t be paid out and so I wouldn’t lose the three months of benefits. Kind of wondering why she didn’t just phrase it the way you did, where I use almost all of it up till the end, and save the last few days of benefits to cover the final semester.

Would you mind explaining exactly how you skipped just the one month to stretch it out? Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve only ever used TA benefits. This will be a first with my post 9/11.

 

[Blacksheep31]

Would you mind explaining exactly how you skipped just the one month to stretch it out? Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve only ever used TA benefits. This will be a first with my post 9/11.

It does get confusing and it is hard to figure out until everything is in the rear view mirror. My school billed on normal semester schedules- fall and spring. The first two years were compressed into 3 semesters. Then 2 months to study for Step 1 and began third year in March. Thus fourth year began in March and is like 15 months long. So it is weird. The first 2 years were billed by the semester. I could have skipped 2 months of housing allowance during Step 1 study but instead opted to wait for fourth year. My benefits were submitted by blocks instead of semesters in fourth year because we are off cycle. Just figured how many months to skip housing allowance and had my VA rep withhold those dates from benefit requests.

Also, the STEM extension may help as well. I applied but was rejected (supposedly because my benefits had not run out yet) and ended up not needing it anyway. Hope that helps. I am sure experience will vary by school and administrators. Good luck!

 

[MusicDOc124]

^ that will highly depend on the school, too. Where I went to school, it was purely semester based. 4 year was somewhat off-cycle as well, but it was still billed for fall/spring just the same, simply with adjusted dates. This would not have worked where I attended.

Keep that in mind, and you'll have to speak with wherever you matriculate/are attending to see if something can be worked out or not.

 

[Zeno911]

So medical school has longer academic years than standard undergrad schedules. That left me with the question of whether my bennies would last. In short, they did. I had to skip one month of benefits during my fourth year (during Step 2 dedicated study) to stretch them out. At my school, our fourth year schedule is all based on monthly rotations so it was the easiest year to figure out how many months I needed to skip. I had 15 days of benefits left last December when tuition for Spring was due. Chapter 33 will cover tuition, fees, and housing allowance for the entire semester as long as you have one day of benefits remaining. So mission success for paying for school. Prioritize using your benefits for the times when tuition and fees are due and you should be able to squeak through.

This is very helpful. I have 30 of the 36 months of post-9/11 GI bill and was wondering how to utilize it cost effectively. I assumed I would have had to pay for at least one year, but your post suggests I might be able to stretch it for all four years provided I didn't mind gaps in BAH