National Guard

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[Bryan O’Blivion]

I wouldn't do anything that could incur obligations that could interfere with your medical school obligations. Unless you are in and armed forces medical scholarship program, which basically leaves you alone until you finish medical school. What exactly are you thinking of doing there?

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to Military forum where users are more likely to have experience with this...

 

[Army Recruiter]

MDSSP from the guard or reserve would get you the monthly stipend, currently 2122 a month due to increase in July. This program would not interfere with your med school, except for the day you take the physical.

Hope this helps

 

[notdeadyet]

MDSSP from the guard or reserve would get you the monthly stipend, currently 2122 a month due to increase in July. This program would not interfere with your med school, except for the day you take the physical.

Disagree with this ^^^.

Fly- I'd recommend using the Advanced Search function here on SDN and search for MDSSP and later STRAP. Restrict these searches to the Military Medicine forums.

MDSSP requires you to drill one weekend per month and a two week session every year. Because you are in a medical student slot, you will be eligible for Flexi-Training which allows you to drill as little as every other month and you can attend the annual training every other year. Folks unfamiliar with drilling in medical school tend to view this as either not interfering or academic suicide. It's neither. It's the equivalent of a hobby in terms of time commitment, but sometimes the time commitment can come at inconvenient times in which you'd like to bone up on your material or relax. If drill is right before a final, this is the drill you miss. Your ability to do so is somewhat dependent on your commanding officer, but I haven't heard too many problems with this.

Do the search, read about the programs, then post when you have some questions.

 

[Army Recruiter]

Here is the blurb, directly from the reg for FY 13:
MDSSP obligors incur an obligation of one year for every six months (or part thereof) for which they receive the stipend. This obligation period will be satisfied immediately following their residency, fellowship or dental school completion unless the individual elects to enter into the STRAP program for residency in an eligible specialty. In that event, the original MDSSP contract will be amended to reflect the STRAP contract.

But to caveat on that, again from the reg. "In the event of war or national emergency, participants may be subject to being ordered to active duty as required by HQDA"

So basically for MDSSP you are not drilling, you would be coded to APMC but that does not require drilling. If you want to attend drill at a unit you can which would earn you some extra compensation.

Perhaps, what notdeadyet said above was for previous years, but not now.

Please correct me if I am wrong, I do not want to give out false information, we (recruiters) are accused of that enough

 

[notdeadyet]

Please correct me if I am wrong, I do not want to give out false information, we (recruiters) are accused of that enough

Your posts make me think you are not a National Guard recruiter, correct? Army Reserve may run their programs differently. I was answering for the Guard, which is what the OP was inquiring about.

 

[jkhamlin]

Here is the blurb, directly from the reg for FY 13:
MDSSP obligors incur an obligation of one year for every six months (or part thereof) for which they receive the stipend. This obligation period will be satisfied immediately following their residency, fellowship or dental school completion unless the individual elects to enter into the STRAP program for residency in an eligible specialty. In that event, the original MDSSP contract will be amended to reflect the STRAP contract.

But to caveat on that, again from the reg. "In the event of war or national emergency, participants may be subject to being ordered to active duty as required by HQDA"

So basically for MDSSP you are not drilling, you would be coded to APMC but that does not require drilling. If you want to attend drill at a unit you can which would earn you some extra compensation.

Perhaps, what notdeadyet said above was for previous years, but not now.

Please correct me if I am wrong, I do not want to give out false information, we (recruiters) are accused of that enough

ARNG MDSSP soldiers do drill quarterly. It's not a big deal, though. being non credentialed, you'll be in the officer's lounge studying in digital camo 95% of the time.

This may vary by state, though, since it is National Guard.

And the thing about war or national emergency: Seriously? Do you think the Army is going to deploy an untrained 2LT or 1LT that will be essentially useless and in the way? They invest a lot of money into the physician recruiting programs because they are desperate, desperate, desperate for providers. It would have to be the end of the world, or an alien invasion to be serious enough to send a super green junior officer into theater for no good reason.

 

[notdeadyet]

ARNG MDSSP soldiers do drill quarterly. It's not a big deal, though. being non credentialed, you'll be in the officer's lounge studying in digital camo 95% of the time.

This may vary by state, though, since it is National Guard.

There's a pretty big difference from state to state. I've noticed the level of Army culture and how military one state's Guard is compared to the next can vary wildly.

 

[jkhamlin]

There's a pretty big difference from state to state. I've noticed the level of Army culture and how military one state's Guard is compared to the next can vary wildly.

You're quite disagreeable, aren't you?

Yes, some units are more squared away than others. So what? They'll still have students mostly studying at drill.

 

[notdeadyet]

Yes, some units are more squared away than others. So what? They'll still have students mostly studying at drill.

Nope. thats the disagreeable part. Med students didn't study at drill where I was. I'd be very cautious about giving folks the impression that because you're a med student, you'll be carved out study time instead of drill is bad recruiting. You may have been studying for 95% of drill but we studied 0% of time where I was. The biggest benefit of this forum is that it gives folks an accurate picture for when they're signing up.

I'm glad your drill was study hall. I wish mine was. I'd suggest the OP take this convo as evidence that the guard for med students is going to vary widely from state to state and he or she should inquire locally to get the picture of what flavor it'll take for them.

 

[DeadCactus]

I recall stories from OBLC of ASR folks in a certain state being required to spend some school vacation time working in a recruiting office. In other states they weren't even asked/expected to go to drill. Your experience in the Guard is going to vary widely depending on your command and even your own attitude toward your service.

Best to go in expecting the worst: 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year, and a 9 month deployment before you get out. It's unlikely it will be that bad but it forces you to consider the real risks and consequences...

 

[notdeadyet]

I recall stories from OBLC of ASR folks in a certain state being required to spend some school vacation time working in a recruiting office. In other states they weren't even asked/expected to go to drill. Your experience in the Guard is going to vary widely depending on your command and even your own attitude toward your service.

Best to go in expecting the worst: 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year, and a 9 month deployment before you get out. It's unlikely it will be that bad but it forces you to consider the real risks and consequences...

Good advice, this ^^^...

 

[tautastic]

I apologize for reviving a dead thread, but the last couple of comments sparked intrigue.

I just finished up my second year, currently prepping for STEP 1, and have been in extensive contact with an Army National Guard recruiter about MDSSP, HPLRP, etc.

My only major concern is the deployment time you quoted; both u/deadcactus and u/notdeadyet agreed on 9 months. My recruiter has stated multiple times that physician deployment lasts around 3 months, with a few weeks on the front and back end. Does this vary by state or unit? It kind of erks me because that's a large time discrepancy. Everything else I have read in the forums seems to be spot on. Thanks for your help.

 

[notdeadyet]

My only major concern is the deployment time you quoted; both u/deadcactus and u/notdeadyet agreed on 9 months.

I see deadcactus mentioned a 9 month deployment (I did not). I think this was a typo. Guard deployments for docs are 90 days boots-on-ground but with pre/post-mobilization, it can be up to 120 days total.

My recruiter has stated multiple times that physician deployment lasts around 3 months, with a few weeks on the front and back end.

Your recruiter is right. Let me know if you have other questions. Sorry for the confusion....

 

[DeadCactus]

Sorry, the 9 months was used in-line with the worst case scenario not as a reflection of current policy. I concider the deployment length one of the more fickle of the protections physicians are afforded.

 

[notdeadyet]

Sorry, the 9 months was used in-line with the worst case scenario not as a reflection of current policy. I concider the deployment length one of the more fickle of the protections physicians are afforded.

Very true. And it's worth noting that the 90 day-boots-on-ground is POLICY, not contract, which means it can be changed with the drop of a pen.