Hi everyone. I was wondering if there were any current or future med students or current physicians who will be / are in the Natl Guard? I am considering it, and I was hoping to get a sense of what to expect. I'm posting here instead of the military forum because a) I'm hoping to see how some non trads have done with it, and b) this forum tends to give more balanced information.
Some of the more specific questions I have: is it difficult to swing the drill weekends while in med school and residency? I was told you are non-deployable during school and residency, how true is this? Also, any other thoughts and considerations are welcome.......Thanks!
-Well I believe I can be of enormous help to you:
I am a current 2LT in the Massachusetts Army Natty G, and will be attending BU GMS next year, so heres what I know, this is specific towards Army NG, so be weary if you're considering Air NG.
1) Drill weekends vary state to state, unit to unit, etc. It really depends on what unit your in. Most likely, as a medical student, you would be attached to medical command for your state unless you have some glorious aspirations of being an Armor/Infantry/Signal/ anything else officer on the weekends and a doctor/student during the week. MEDCOM then is where you would be attached, and for the most part is rather easy to manage. Most saturdays would be spent with military physicians and Sundays are considered to be "study" days. Take that how you will. Be weary though, although drill weekends may be particularly lax, they are still time away from home/apartment/studying for the most part. Speaking from experience, I always tended to have drill weekends as an undergrad when I had a big test coming up, which was anything but fun. However, I am not a medical student so I have not experienced MEDCOM as a med student but I do know that they understand you are in medical student and try to accomodate you as much as possible.
2) Tricky part about being deployable: That pertains to the type of unit you are in and whether or not you are on an Army scholarship. Ex: If you are a med student during the week and an Infantry officer on the weekend, if your unit gets deployed, so will you. If you're attached to MEDCOM and are a medical student, you are theoretically not in a "unit" so to speak, and would not be deployed as only individual physicians, dentists, optometrists, etc. are deployed. Heres one thing to note: If you sign an HPSP scholarship for medical school, you are non-deployable while in medical school. However, during your residency, it depends on the service: Army is non-deployable until you are done with school and residency, Navy can deploy you during your residency for a GMO tour, and I believe the Air Force is the same as Navy, but I am not 100%. For the most part, if you are on an Army scholarship for med school you will most likely be attached to MEDCOM and are non-deployable while in school and residency.
3) I think that answers your two questions, if you have any other questions let me know, but remember this as you entertain the possibility of joining the Army, whether it be active/reserve/NG. The Army loves to throw these beautiful lump sums of money at you, promise you a pipe dream to heaven, yadda yadda yadda. Take anything you hear with reserve, from me, a recruiter, anyone else. The Army has great opportunities to be taken advantage of, but remember that as soon as you sign that contract, you are ultimately their property for however long.
