- Joined
- May 2, 2016
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If you take a year off during your MD/PhD for something non-academic, is it seen by the NIH as an equivalent to having taken 5 years for your PhD?
I'm currently a rising MS2 in an MSTP and am seriously considering taking a year off after taking Step 1 to enlist in the Navy Reserves, ideally for a corpsman route (I can get that guaranteed in my enlistment contract). I can opt into deploying right after my initial training (A+C School) in order to protect (obv not guaranteed) myself from deployment later on in graduate school, which is why I want to take the year off to deploy up front when it won't interrupt as much. Grad school just seems to offer the flexibility that makes it the perfect time to do something like reserves. My PI is a former Army Ranger who fully supports this path. I haven't spoken with my program admin yet.
My hesitation is that I don't want to hurt my MSTP by doing this and adding an extra year (maybe 2...who knows what will happen once I'm in). They're like family and I don't want to be giving the NIH any reason to doubt the program's retention capacity right at their training grant renewal in a time when slots are often being cut. That said, I know I have to live my own life and do what I have to do and there are strong laws in place to protect me in this situation, I just don't want to be recklessly selfish.
I'm doing this mostly for personal reasons (not trying to get around something, for money, to get away from something, or anything like that) because I'm now realizing that I should've gone active duty after undergrad instead of going straight into MD/PhD like I did, but this seems like a good way to meet in the middle. As far as my ability to put in the time for it during graduate school, that's not going to be an issue. During my first year of medical school, I finished three first author manuscripts, won a small grant for my work, got my pilot's license, spent lots of time with friends, and exercised a ton. I'll be able to handle the shared time commitment. I understand that this could belong in the military forum, but the root of my question is really about how years off are handled in MSTPs, which is why I put it here.
Again, my question here is not whether or not I should join the military. The question is how the time I take off to deploy will be seen by the NIH and whether or not that will hurt my program.
I'm currently a rising MS2 in an MSTP and am seriously considering taking a year off after taking Step 1 to enlist in the Navy Reserves, ideally for a corpsman route (I can get that guaranteed in my enlistment contract). I can opt into deploying right after my initial training (A+C School) in order to protect (obv not guaranteed) myself from deployment later on in graduate school, which is why I want to take the year off to deploy up front when it won't interrupt as much. Grad school just seems to offer the flexibility that makes it the perfect time to do something like reserves. My PI is a former Army Ranger who fully supports this path. I haven't spoken with my program admin yet.
My hesitation is that I don't want to hurt my MSTP by doing this and adding an extra year (maybe 2...who knows what will happen once I'm in). They're like family and I don't want to be giving the NIH any reason to doubt the program's retention capacity right at their training grant renewal in a time when slots are often being cut. That said, I know I have to live my own life and do what I have to do and there are strong laws in place to protect me in this situation, I just don't want to be recklessly selfish.
I'm doing this mostly for personal reasons (not trying to get around something, for money, to get away from something, or anything like that) because I'm now realizing that I should've gone active duty after undergrad instead of going straight into MD/PhD like I did, but this seems like a good way to meet in the middle. As far as my ability to put in the time for it during graduate school, that's not going to be an issue. During my first year of medical school, I finished three first author manuscripts, won a small grant for my work, got my pilot's license, spent lots of time with friends, and exercised a ton. I'll be able to handle the shared time commitment. I understand that this could belong in the military forum, but the root of my question is really about how years off are handled in MSTPs, which is why I put it here.
Again, my question here is not whether or not I should join the military. The question is how the time I take off to deploy will be seen by the NIH and whether or not that will hurt my program.
