MDSSP and Fellowship?

[deleted927298]

Hey guys, so I'm heavily considering taking the MDSSP and then the STRAP during residency to help pay off med school loans. After residency, I'd like to do a 1-2 year fellowship. How would my fellowship be affected by my military duties?

Is it that after residency, I immediately have to go from reserves into active service? Thus, I'd have to wait before I can do/apply to my fellowship?

Much appreciated in advance.

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[deleted480308]

Hey guys, so I'm heavily considering taking the MDSSP and then the STRAP during residency to help pay off med school loans. After residency, I'd like to do a 1-2 year fellowship. How would my fellowship be affected by my military duties?

Is it that after residency, I immediately have to go from reserves into active service? Thus, I'd have to wait before I can do/apply to my fellowship?

Much appreciated in advance.

You never go into active service unless you are deployed. My understanding is that you are technically eligible for deployment after residency but some states will try to honor your fellowship time

*if it’s not in a policy paper somewhere it doesn’t matter, and they can still change policy

 

[DeadCactus]

Risk of being pulled from fellowship is there but pretty minimal unless we wind up in a major war and you'll have legal protections to make sure you can return and finish the fellowship. Expect to give up weekends and vacation time to the military during residency and fellowship which can be easily half your time off depending on specialty. Some units are more flexible than others but plan for the worst.

MDSSP + STRAP is a poor choice. You're committing to almost an entire military career on day 1. People spend less time in prison for murder than MDSSP+STRAP commits you to. It's ridiculous and predatory that it's even an option offered by the military. Take the loans, be fiscally responsible, and re-evaluate after medical school or residency. Joining as a medical student without taking any incentives is also an option.

 

[DMBandFan86]

I think it also depends on what fellowship you are looking to do. If you choose a fellowship the military doesn’t care about then you may not get protected during fellowship time. You also defer your payback time in fellowship.

agree with above, but you should look at your total commitment time. Realize you will eventually get out of training and have to make up all the time you agreed to. The military may even assign you a position you don’t want just because they can. Once you get out of training and start making salary your monthly drill obligation mostly Becomes an annoyance. You don’t want to be stuck with a very long commitment time. I’m not shooting down MDSSP or STRAP but just make sure it is what you want. The least amount of time you commit to up front is the better.

 

[deleted927298]

Thanks for your advice. I know I want to serve and join the military. It's in my family.

Ive been considering MDSSP and HPLRP. Considering that I take 4 years of MDSSP and 240K loan repayment from HPLRP, would that be 13 years of commitment?

 

[deleted927298]

Is MDSSP+HPLRP a shorter option than MDSSP+STRAP in terms of commitment?

 

[DMBandFan86]

I’m not sure. Would look into the current rules about it. Unfortunately recruiters aren’t often aware of all the rules with Strap and hplrp.

If you take strap then your MDSSP obligation basically goes away depending on how long your residency is. Just remember you must match a critical wartime specialty to get strap or hplrp. I just haven’t come across someone who only did MDSSP and Hplrp. I’m not sure if it is an option or if you would even be protected while in residency.

 

[DeadCactus]

I haven't seen recent recruiting program documents so it may have changed or I may be remembered incorrectly. From my recollection:

MDSSP is a 2:1 commitment during medical school (1 year of payback for every 6 months of stipend), payback starts post-training
STRAP is a 2:1 commitment during residency/fellowship, payback starts post-training
HPLRP is a set amount of repayment for every year you agree to serve after training

If you take MDSSP and then STRAP, your MDSSP obligation goes down to 1:1
If you take STRAP, for PGY-3 and on you can also take HPLRP

So 4 years of MDSSP, 3 year residency with STRAP, and 1 year of HPLRP taken as a PGY3 would give you 7 years of stipend and one loan repayment for a very rough total of ~$225K. If you join the Guard, you may have some state specific benefits. You'll also get ~$70k in military pay during that time. In exchange, you spend your 7 years of medical school in the military and then owe 4+6=10 years of service post training for a total of 17 years in the military. At which point you might as well finish out 3 more years, get your loans fully forgiven and get a small military retirement benefit when you hit retirement age.

It's not a terrible deal, just an insane deal to commit to upfront. It's crazy that you can end up being 40 telling your kid you have to miss their birthday or your significant other you can't go on vacation with them because when you were 22 you took some money from the government and now you have to go to Manchuria for 6 months.

 

[deleted480308]

I think it might be that Mdssp payback starts during residency if you also take strap

 

[DeadCactus]

I think it might be that Mdssp payback starts during residency if you also take strap

You might be right. I thought there was a period of time where it did but that it was subsequently changed to start afterward. Maybe I am remembering wrong or maybe it has changed back.

 

[DMBandFan86]

MDSSP Payback used to start in residency many years ago, but changed to be after. But if you take STRAP then it starts in residency.

 

[notdeadyet]

DMB is right: MDSSP does not start payback until after residency. Too many savvy medical students probably realized they could take 2 years MDSSP in MS3/4 and payback their obligation while still protected in residency.

 

[sylvester500]

Hey guys, so I'm heavily considering taking the MDSSP and then the STRAP during residency to help pay off med school loans. After residency, I'd like to do a 1-2 year fellowship. How would my fellowship be affected by my military duties?

Is it that after residency, I immediately have to go from reserves into active service? Thus, I'd have to wait before I can do/apply to my fellowship?

Much appreciated in advance.

Sorry to piggy back in an unsolicited manner. But, I am also considering MDSSP to supplement during med school.

Can anyone comment on what it’s like to be a reserve physician after training (residency + fellowship)?

What are the regular obligations, etc?

Can (should) you pay back during residency / fellowship?

I’m really interested in CCATT any way, so would be interested in MDSSP through AF reserve.