Radiology USUHS vs. National Guard Compensations

[SgtDoc]

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My girlfriend is a financial analyst and she helped me make this spreadsheet that compares the financial advantage (or disadvantage) of a med student interested in Radiology going to USUHS or to the National Guard after med school. It assumes a starting salary of 300,000 for the civilian Radiologist, all bonus and pay information was taken from DFAS, and tax rates are current. Also assumes 200,000 in debt. State tax is not take into consideration. The total benefit does not take into account the free insurances and benefits provided to military doctors. Let me know if better clarification is needed or if any mistakes were made. The spread sheet file is attached because I am not sure how to add it directly into the message.View attachment MedSchool Cost Comparison.xls

 

[NavyFP]

My girlfriend is a financial analyst and she helped me make this spreadsheet that compares the financial advantage (or disadvantage) of a med student interested in Radiology going to USUHS or to the National Guard after med school. It assumes a starting salary of 300,000 for the civilian Radiologist, all bonus and pay information was taken from DFAS, and tax rates are current. Also assumes 200,000 in debt. State tax is not take into consideration. The total benefit does not take into account the free insurances and benefits provided to military doctors. Let me know if better clarification is needed or if any mistakes were made. The spread sheet file is attached because I am not sure how to add it directly into the message.View attachment 9740

Interesting spread sheet.
Here are some items I am not sure were factored in:
1) Interest on the 200K in loans. (it will be something.)
2) Loss of civilian income due to deployment (there will be at least one in there)
3) Lifetime retirement benefit. If you go the USUHS route, you would start to receive retirement checks at 60% base pay immediately. If you go guard, you will receive a significantly lower percentage and begin to receive those checks at age 60.
4) Did you add in Additional Special Pay (ASP= 15k/year)?

 

[SgtDoc]

Interesting spread sheet.
Here are some items I am not sure were factored in:
1) Interest on the 200K in loans. (it will be something.)
---Did not include, you are right though, that would add on quite a bit---
2) Loss of civilian income due to deployment (there will be at least one in there)
---Didn't even think of this---
3) Lifetime retirement benefit. If you go the USUHS route, you would start to receive retirement checks at 60% base pay immediately. If you go guard, you will receive a significantly lower percentage and begin to receive those checks at age 60.
4) Did you add in Additional Special Pay (ASP= 15k/year)?
---Yes, this is included---

Those are all good points, and would close the gap even more...I'll see if my girlfriend can make these edits. The loss of pay due to deployment should close that gap on its own.

 

[tscottturner]

3) Lifetime retirement benefit. If you go the USUHS route, you would start to receive retirement checks at 60% base pay immediately.

If you do 20 and then out, how is it possible to receive more than 50%? I thought current retirement payout at 20 years was 50% of the average basic pay for the highest 36 months of the individual's career, plus additional 2.5% for every year on top of 20, for a maximum of 75% at 30 years. Admittedly, I am not familiar with any special retirement bonuses for military physicians.

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

If you do 20 and then out, how is it possible to receive more than 50%? I thought current retirement payout at 20 years was 50% of the average basic pay for the highest 36 months of the individual's career, plus additional 2.5% for every year on top of 20, for a maximum of 75% at 30 years. Admittedly, I am not familiar with any special retirement bonuses for military physicians.

If you attend USUHS, when you hit your 20 year mark, the 4 years of medical school are tacked on; thus, you retire with 24 years service and 60%.

 

[tscottturner]

If you attend USUHS, when you hit your 20 year mark, the 4 years of medical school are tacked on; thus, you retire with 24 years service and 60%.

So they do it for USUHS but not for the service academys? I'm not saying you're wrong, but it just doesn't sound right...

 

[NavyFP]

So they do it for USUHS but not for the service academys? I'm not saying you're wrong, but it just doesn't sound right...

Years ago, USU actually counted towards the 20. This was the (un)happy compromise. The big difference between USU and the academies is that you are a commissioned officer vice the nebulous rank of midshipman/cadet.

 

[SgtDoc]

I went ahead and changed my spreadsheet based on some suggestions. First, I assumed that the guard guy would get deployed for one year, and drop down to officer's pay (rather than private practice). I also added student loan interest, which is about $51k on $200k of loans (and yes, I did give credit for the $50k loan repayment offered by the guard). I also added the $15k addidional special pay (I thought I had added it, but hadn't). The results are pretty interesting...

Sorry that I have to attach the file, I can't access any photo storage sites at work, so I can't post the image.

 

[tscottturner]

I went ahead and changed my spreadsheet based on some suggestions. First, I assumed that the guard guy would get deployed for one year, and drop down to officer's pay (rather than private practice). I also added student loan interest, which is about $51k on $200k of loans (and yes, I did give credit for the $50k loan repayment offered by the guard). I also added the $15k addidional special pay (I thought I had added it, but hadn't). The results are pretty interesting...

Sorry that I have to attach the file, I can't access any photo storage sites at work, so I can't post the image.

All of the NG Docs I work with have only been required to have boots on the ground for 90 days on deployments (vs a year). Additionally, some STILL received a paycheck (albeit not as much as usual) from their group/employers while deployed.