STRAP Obligation

[slycaper]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Anyone know if when applying to the STRAP program what the minimum STRAP obligation time is? I want to participate in the program only during my intern year until I can moonlight my second year but they are telling if I sign up now it will have to be for the duration of my residency or I can sign up my last year with the HPLRP. Seems like the Nasty Guard is yanking my chain, does this seem accurate/ has anyone else heard otherwise?

 

[notdeadyet]

Anyone know if when applying to the STRAP program what the minimum STRAP obligation time is? I want to participate in the program only during my intern year until I can moonlight my second year but they are telling if I sign up now it will have to be for the duration of my residency or I can sign up my last year with the HPLRP. Seems like the Nasty Guard is yanking my chain, does this seem accurate/ has anyone else heard otherwise?

You can take STRAP for as little as 1 year, but the requirement is if you take STRAP, it has to end with the end of residency. So if you want to take it only 1 year, it has to be in your last year of residency, not your first. Make sense?

 

[notdeadyet]

By the way, you're ASR right? You should have the latest and greatest on STRAP in any of the AMEDD Officer Incentive memo's. It details each (MDSSP, STRAP, HPLRP, and Special Pay) pretty directly.

 

[slycaper]

I am an ASR soldier, thats not the answer I wanted to here. Oh well, thanks for the input.

 

[stiz]

Assuming a 4-year residency....with STRAP and maybe HPLRP ...

I saw somewhere else on SDN that the 2 years you take (PGY3, PGY4) of HPLRP does NOT add to the 8 years you owe for STRAP ...

However, at this site (see below) it just says 'One year of service in the Army Reserve is required for every year of loan repayment you take'.

http://www.goarmyreservedocs.com/r_benefits.html

Anyone know whether you incur 2 additional years for taking the HPLRP during PGY3 and PGY4??

Thanks!

 

[notdeadyet]

You get paid out $40k in loans for each year you're on HPLRP but you won't be paying back obligation while you're on it. If you're on STRAP in a critical wartime shortage list, you can take it PGY-3 and PGY-4. Make sense?

 

[stiz]

I'm still confused.

If I take 4-years of STRAP, and take HPLRP PGY3 and PGY4 is my obligation 8 years or 10 years?

Is Psych on the CWS list?

Thanks!

 

[notdeadyet]

8 years, but during those 8 years, you wouldn't be able to take HPLRP other than for pgy3 & 4. If you took any post residency but before you finished STRAP payback, you'd push out your obligation payback for as long as you kept taking HPLRP. Make sense.

Psych was on the list still last I checked.

 

[Army Recruiter]

FY 13 CWS list:
Anesthesiology
Emergency Medicine
Family Medicine
Flight Surgeon
General Surgery
Infectious Disease Officer
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Otolaryngologist
Orthopedic Surgery
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry
Pulmonary Disease Officer
Thoracic Surgery
Urology

 

[Frozen]

I was told by a recruiter that I could take hplrp starting 2nd year, is that false?

 

[notdeadyet]

I was told by a recruiter that I could take hplrp starting 2nd year, is that false?

Not unless things changed in a big way for FY13-14 (the last incentives memo I have is for FY12-13 and I haven't seen a newer one distributed).

HPLRP is available to board eligible physicians who rate good years. The exception is for folks taking STRAP and in a CWS specialty. They can take HPLRP starting their PGY-3 year. Which means on July 1st as your PGY-3 year starts, you sign the paperwork and on July 1st of the start of your PGY-4 year, $40K gets knocked off your account. There is a tax burden with that, though.

 

[DeadCactus]

Not unless things changed in a big way for FY13-14 (the last incentives memo I have is for FY12-13 and I haven't seen a newer one distributed).

HPLRP is available to board eligible physicians who rate good years. The exception is for folks taking STRAP and in a CWS specialty. They can take HPLRP starting their PGY-3 year. Which means on July 1st as your PGY-3 year starts, you sign the paperwork and on July 1st of the start of your PGY-4 year, $40K gets knocked off your account. There is a tax burden with that, though.

Is that available no matter when you start taking STRAP?

For example:
Could you take STRAP and HPLRP for the last year of residency, then pay off your STRAP obligation over 2 years right after residency? What extra pay and bonuses do you get as a BE/BC physician in serving off a STRAP or HPLRP commitment?

I need to review the incentive memo but I'm hoping you might have a quick answer for me...

 

[notdeadyet]

Is that available no matter when you start taking STRAP?

HPLRP? It's available to any BC/BE physician, regardless of whether they took STRAP. As to taking it during residency, it's only PGY-3 and beyond for folks who are also taking STRAP. Does that make sense? I may not understand your question.

Could you take STRAP and HPLRP for the last year of residency, then pay off your STRAP obligation over 2 years right after residency?

Yes, you could.

What extra pay and bonuses do you get as a BE/BC physician in serving off a STRAP or HPLRP commitment?

So, like any military incentive program, you can't take new incentives while paying off the obligation for old ones.

So in your scenario, the downside to taking STRAP and HPLRP in your final year in residency is that you will spend two years post residency paying off your STRAP obligation, so those are two years you won't be able to take HPLRP. Your third year after residency, you can sign up for HPLRP again. Your alternative would to NOT take STRAP in your final year of residency. You wouldn't get the stipend for that year and you wouldn't get the $40K of loan debt paid off that year, but you would be able to take HPLRP immediately after finishing residency. So by two years post-residency, you'd have $80K in loans paid off as opposed to your original scenario, in which you'd have $40K in loans paid off and $25K in stipend paid directly to you.

Make sense?

 

[DeadCactus]

Cool, that's what I figured. Just wanted to have someone else confirm.

What about special pay and the other salary supplements for physicians?

 

[notdeadyet]

What about special pay and the other salary supplements for physicians?

$25K/year for Special Pay each year. That's the only one I know about.

 

[DeadCactus]

And you get that while paying back other obligations (STRAP/HPLRP) or it's just an incentive to keep people who could get out?

 

[notdeadyet]

For any military incentive programs, you are not paying back service obligations if you are receiving incentives that incur more service obligations…

So if you take Special Pay, you are not paying back the years you incurred for STRAP.

 

[Artefact]

FY 13 CWS list:
Anesthesiology
Emergency Medicine
Family Medicine
Flight Surgeon
General Surgery
Infectious Disease Officer
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Otolaryngologist
Orthopedic Surgery
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry
Pulmonary Disease Officer
Thoracic Surgery
Urology

Internal medicine residents qualify, right?

 

[DeadCactus]

If it's not on the list then no. The work-around is going to Flight Surgeon school if you're willing to...

 

[Artefact]

If it's not on the list then no. The work-around is going to Flight Surgeon school if you're willing to...

Okay - I just found this old memo (http://www.sdguard.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/AMEDD-SOP-dtd-18APR11.pdf)

It seems like internal medicine physicians can substitute for family medicine - wouldn't an IM resident be eligible for incentives if they are filling a family medicine billet? That shouldn't even require flight surgeon school.

 

[notdeadyet]

It seems like internal medicine physicians can substitute for family medicine - wouldn't an IM resident be eligible for incentives if they are filling a family medicine billet? That shouldn't even require flight surgeon school.

What are you looking for? Why do you need to be on the CWS list? Are you considering STRAP + HPLRP during residency?

 

[Artefact]

What are you looking for? Why do you need to be on the CWS list? Are you considering STRAP + HPLRP during residency?

Yeah, I would like to do STRAP + HPLRP during residency, but my impression is that *no* incentives are available for specialties not on the CWS list. For instance, my understanding is that a pathology resident wouldn't qualify for STRAP or HPLRP in the guard. Is this not right?

 

[Army Recruiter]

Pathology does not qualify for strap, or HPLR. IM does qualify for FAP (Active duty version of STRAP)

 

[Artefact]

Pathology does not qualify for strap, or HPLR. IM does qualify for FAP (Active duty version of STRAP)

My understanding is that pathology qualifies for FAP as well - but does IM qualify for strap or HPLR?

 

[Army Recruiter]

My understanding is that pathology qualifies for FAP as well - but does IM qualify for strap or HPLR?

IM does not qualify for STRAP or HPLR in FY 13, however FY 14 may be different, ideally we will know the CWS list for FY14 in the next few weeks.

As far as FAP for 61U, pathology, I do not have that answer right now, I will research on my end and get back on here later today or tomorrow.

This is all Army specific, I cannot speak for the other services.

AMEDD Recruiter, NJ

 

[Artefact]

IM does not qualify for STRAP or HPLR in FY 13, however FY 14 may be different, ideally we will know the CWS list for FY14 in the next few weeks.

As far as FAP for 61U, pathology, I do not have that answer right now, I will research on my end and get back on here later today or tomorrow.

This is all Army specific, I cannot speak for the other services.

AMEDD Recruiter, NJ

So it doesn't matter if IM is substitutable for specialties that are on the cws list?

 

[Army Recruiter]

Correct, the program must be specific to the specialty on the list

 

[notdeadyet]

Correct, the program must be specific to the specialty on the list

Wow, I'm surprised by this. For the Guard, you can not substitute into a CWS slot for the sake of STRAP as a resident, but you can for HPLRP.

 

[Artefact]

Wow, I'm surprised by this. For the Guard, you can not substitute into a CWS slot for the sake of STRAP as a resident, but you can for HPLRP.

Ahhh - so I should be able to qualify for HPLRP? And when would I be eligible for that, after residency only, or even during?

 

[notdeadyet]

Ahhh - so I should be able to qualify for HPLRP? And when would I be eligible for that, after residency only, or even during?

I'll need to look at the policy doc (I don't have it with me at work).

You can only take HPLRP during your PGY3+ years if you are on STRAP. If you're ineligible for STRAP, you can only take it after you're finished with training and designated for a CWS specialty slot.

And you can only take HPLRP (outside of if you're taking it during residency on STRAP) if you're in a deployable status.

 

[375RGRRGT]

Rumor has it that you can take these benefits up to your Mandatory Retirement Date (MRD) now rather than up to 20 years of service (time already accrued + obligation from STRAP +/- HPLRP)

This would make a big difference for me and several classmates otherwise we will retire in residency!

Any confirmation of this anyone?

 

[notdeadyet]

Rumor has it that you can take these benefits up to your Mandatory Retirement Date (MRD) now rather than up to 20 years of service (time already accrued + obligation from STRAP +/- HPLRP)

Can you rephrase? I'm not sure what you're asking here. Do you mean can you take STRAP and retire prior to fulfilling the obligation from STRAP if you hit your MRD?

 

[375RGRRGT]

say someone here has 14 years of service prior to residency and takes strap for that year, at years end they are at 15 years service + 2 years for that year of strap (for 17 years) then they take it the next year and at years end they are at 16 years service + 4 years obligation (16+4 = 20 and they would be eligible for retirement (COE) upon completion of 4 year service obligation for strap money). Years past, this would preclude you from getting any more STRAP money (age 38 for this particular individual). But since MRD is 60 in the reserve for physicians (some age 66), it would change the game completely regarding eligibility for strap money.

The 20 year limit of service + obligation for strap payback I know was true but MRD is the rumor. Ill get my certificate of eligibility for retirement while in residency and under the old rule I cannot take any more strap money. If this has changed is my question.