MD via Army?

[ELS12345]

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My understanding: For every year you are in med school, you serve one year. So, four for four. Army foots the bill and gives you a stipend.

What I don't understand: Does your residency count as part of those 4 years if you serve with the army? If not, do they add to your total years? So, 4 years of school, 3 years of residency, 7 years serving? What about IRR? The extent of the commitment is very grey on their websites.

Overall: Are people happy who do this?

I'm really leaning toward this decision but need to hear the deal from someone other than a recruiter.

 

[theseeker4]

My understanding: For every year you are in med school, you serve one year. So, four for four. Army foots the bill and gives you a stipend.

What I don't understand: Does your residency count as part of those 4 years if you serve with the army? If not, do they add to your total years? So, 4 years of school, 3 years of residency, 7 years serving? What about IRR? The extent of the commitment is very grey on their websites.

Overall: Are people happy who do this?

I'm really leaning toward this decision but need to hear the deal from someone other than a recruiter.

The most common piece of advice I have heard is only be a doctor in the army (or any other service) if you want to be in the army. If your only goal is to pay off your debt, consensus seems to be there are better ways to do it, as the army is a lifestyle you have to want to live to not be miserable (kind of like medicine😀)

 

[DrMidlife]

It's incredibly complicated. See the military forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=72) for in-depth info presented with more acronyms than you've ever seen before, and this thread for a old but thorough truthing: http://lukeballard.tripod.com/HPSP.html

Best of luck to you.

 

[HipChick]

It's incredibly complicated. See the military forum (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=72) for in-depth info presented with more acronyms than you've ever seen before, and this thread for a old but thorough truthing: http://lukeballard.tripod.com/HPSP.html

Best of luck to you.

True this. I've hear air force is a better route but all are very confusing.

 

[whatbout2morrow]

My understanding: For every year you are in med school, you serve one year. So, four for four. Army foots the bill and gives you a stipend.

What I don't understand: Does your residency count as part of those 4 years if you serve with the army? If not, do they add to your total years? So, 4 years of school, 3 years of residency, 7 years serving? What about IRR? The extent of the commitment is very grey on their websites.

Overall: Are people happy who do this?

I'm really leaning toward this decision but need to hear the deal from someone other than a recruiter.

From what I understand, after medical school, you do your First Year of Graduate Medical Education (FYGME aka internship). This does not count. After this, you can apply for a military residency. The years of military residency do count. If you do not match into your desired specialty, and decide against going into another specialty, you must serve a tour of General Medical Officer (GMO) duty, after which you can reapply for residency, or continue doing GMO tours. The years of GMO duty also count. Keep in mind, though, that if you keep doing GMO tours, once your 4 year commitment is over, you will have to apply to the civilian match if you wish to obtain a license.

Anyone see any mistakes, please correct me. And yes, spend some time in those military medicine fora.

 

[darmalee]

The military medicine forum can answer these questions much more accurately, but I think it is VERY important to point out that if you go through an Army residency program (which they very strongly push you to do) the chances are lower of matching to the specialty you want. It's been a while since I saw the specific numbers and I do know that the Army has higher percentages than the other military services, but it is less than the regular match. Just something to keep in mind.

From what I understand, after medical school, you do your First Year of Graduate Medical Education (FYGME aka internship). This does not count. After this, you can apply for a military residency. The years of military residency do count. If you do not match into your desired specialty, and decide against going into another specialty, you must serve a tour of General Medical Officer (GMO) duty, after which you can reapply for residency, or continue doing GMO tours. The years of GMO duty also count. Keep in mind, though, that if you keep doing GMO tours, once your 4 year commitment is over, you will have to apply to the civilian match if you wish to obtain a license.

Anyone see any mistakes, please correct me. And yes, spend some time in those military medicine fora.