Veterans, the GI Bill (Ch 30 and 33/ Post-9/11), and Veteran Readiness/Vocational Rehabilitation (Ch 31/VRE)

[MusicDOc124]

Have to close file until I move to medical school 🤦 oh well

That's some BS. I moved for med school ~5 hours away initially and did not need to switch to another office. Each place may have different policies, but that sucks! If you were approved, look into trying to stay with the place approving and stick with virtual meets if you can.

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[Welp7]

That's some BS. I moved for med school ~5 hours away initially and did not need to switch to another office. Each place may have different policies, but that sucks! If you were approved, look into trying to stay with the place approving and stick with virtual meets if you can.

Yea I’ll try again in the new state. She said it won’t count towards my attempts at VR&E.

 

[martvubo]

Switched to voc rehab for med school with a few months of GI left, used my remaining GI during intern year... applied for STEM extension (residency in most-- maybe all?-- specialties is explicitly listed in the doc outlining what fields qualify) but language on the application site makes it seem like it's not a given; anyone have any experience getting denied or needing to appeal for the STEM extension?

 

[xffan624]

Switched to voc rehab for med school with a few months of GI left, used my remaining GI during intern year... applied for STEM extension (residency in most-- maybe all?-- specialties is explicitly listed in the doc outlining what fields qualify) but language on the application site makes it seem like it's not a given; anyone have any experience getting denied or needing to appeal for the STEM extension?

I was denied because my residency program wasn't an undergraduate (basically insane troll logic). I appealed using language from their own list of approved programs (which had 4 pages of residencies that were approved programs) and then I was denied on appeal. At that point I gave up. A new law passed last year that explicitly includes medical residency in the list of types of programs may give you better luck. By the time it passed I had like 5 months left in my residency program so I didn't attempt to reapply.

 

[martvubo]

To follow up and hopefully help someone else: I got approved for the STEM extension. I sent the specific job code (or whatever the number is called) for anesthesiology resident to my hospital's GME person the same day I got an email from VA saying "we can't make a decision without more information". I framed it as "I think they are going to try to block this, but per their own documentation, this is why I qualify so if/when they ask you for more information this is what they want"

 

[xffan624]

To follow up and hopefully help someone else: I got approved for the STEM extension. I sent the specific job code (or whatever the number is called) for anesthesiology resident to my hospital's GME person the same day I got an email from VA saying "we can't make a decision without more information". I framed it as "I think they are going to try to block this, but per their own documentation, this is why I qualify so if/when they ask you for more information this is what they want"

Congrats! Glad to see that someone benefited from the change in policy.

 

[j4pac]

Interesting. So I was looking into trying to get P911GIB after completing my MGIB and I learned that I wasn’t paid one of my payments. The problem isn’t the $2000 I missed out on, but the much bigger problem is that I can’t get P911GIB or even apply without exhausting the MGIB. Any clue how to proceed? I was thinking about trying to get that last months pay versus just forfeiting it, whichever is allowable.

 

[im30]

Hey Folks,

I'm looking for some thoughts and opinions on my situation. I am 30, marine vet, and a firefighter. Some of my service connected ortho issues from both jobs are preventing me from continuing as a firefighter and I am going back to school to pursue medicine. I am passionate about emergency medicine, but think I would love some other specialties like family practice or sports medicine as well.

I have a little over 30 credits done over the last few years (between trainings, or while recovering from surgeries) with a 4.0 GPA so I'm off to a good start. I have a 90% disability rating and I believe would qualify for a SEH which could allow me to go beyond the 48 month cap on VA benefits. After attending EMT and paramedic school, as well as the 30 credits, I have about 16 months left of Post 9/11 benefits, and would need 27 or more to finish undergrad. Since I'm about 11 months short on Post 9/11 to get me through my undergrad right now , I am looking at VR&E and wondering if there is a possibility for basically 7 years of school covered (sounds insane). If not, do you think I could use the STEM extension to finish undergrad and then still qualify for full BAH if/when I get approved for VR&E?

Wanted to say thank you and give a shout out to you guys who have been posting about your journeys here, its been very encouraging to me to read about your successes and also to learn from your mistakes. Hope to hear from you soon.

 

[BC_89]

Interesting. So I was looking into trying to get P911GIB after completing my MGIB and I learned that I wasn’t paid one of my payments. The problem isn’t the $2000 I missed out on, but the much bigger problem is that I can’t get P911GIB or even apply without exhausting the MGIB. Any clue how to proceed? I was thinking about trying to get that last months pay versus just forfeiting it, whichever is allowable.

Apologize for a very late reply (I've been out and about for the past month or so). Concerning the switch from MGIB to post 911:

You're locked out of Post 9/11 until you have exhausted that last month of MGIB (of which case you could then tap into an extra 12 months of your post 9/11). The law states no more than 48 months worth of educational benefits. Since you could only utilize 36 months of MGIB, you'd be able to dip into that last 12 months of benefits as seen fit.

The glitch is (If I am understanding correctly) you never received credit for your last month of MGIB (nor the pay associated with it). This will uneventfully lock you out from being considered for extra educational costs (or even certificates as seen fit). At worst, I'd try to claim the 2k you missed out on (as you cannot simply forfeit MGIB for post 9/11 at this point).

 

[BC_89]

Hey Folks,

I'm looking for some thoughts and opinions on my situation. I am 30, marine vet, and a firefighter. Some of my service connected ortho issues from both jobs are preventing me from continuing as a firefighter and I am going back to school to pursue medicine. I am passionate about emergency medicine, but think I would love some other specialties like family practice or sports medicine as well.

I have a little over 30 credits done over the last few years (between trainings, or while recovering from surgeries) with a 4.0 GPA so I'm off to a good start. I have a 90% disability rating and I believe would qualify for a SEH which could allow me to go beyond the 48 month cap on VA benefits. After attending EMT and paramedic school, as well as the 30 credits, I have about 16 months left of Post 9/11 benefits, and would need 27 or more to finish undergrad. Since I'm about 11 months short on Post 9/11 to get me through my undergrad right now , I am looking at VR&E and wondering if there is a possibility for basically 7 years of school covered (sounds insane). If not, do you think I could use the STEM extension to finish undergrad and then still qualify for full BAH if/when I get approved for VR&E?

Wanted to say thank you and give a shout out to you guys who have been posting about your journeys here, its been very encouraging to me to read about your successes and also to learn from your mistakes. Hope to hear from you soon.

In case you hadn't seen it yet, I highly recommend looking over our updated link concerning VR&E and the STEM program here:

***2022 Update*** FAQs - Post 9/11 & Montgomery GI Bill Benefits - VR&E Chapter 31 Benefits - Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship (Files Attached)

In short, it is highly unlikely you would be covered from beginning to end from undergrad to med school on the basis of getting accepted to utilize VR&E (Chapter 31 benefits). It is an employment program that is based on minimum education/skill sets to set up veterans for job prospects. As you've read though, veterans have been able to cater these benefits for medical school (however, this is getting more difficult year after year as time goes). You would have to argue "why" a bachelors wouldn't warrant the opportunity for you to be gainfully employed in any profession. The burden is also on the veteran to "prove" why medical school and how your service-connected disabilities would not worsen your ability to work in such a capacity (so on and so forth).

However, you do have a better shot of trying to get on VR&E during your undergrad and stating your interests, aptitude, and abilities based on a career (major) that can help you fulfill early employment with "just the current credential of having a bachelors." I would aim the focus on immediate employment and "not necessarily mention" your immediate goal of med school. By doing this, you now have the ability to do two things:

1) Allow VR&E to carry you through undergrad
2) Save whats left of your Post 9/11 to put you ahead in medical school (at least to a solid start).

If you start off on using your GI Bill, it'll take away from your VR&E (no more than 48 months of total benefit). Albeit being 90% sets a veteran up for an SEH, it is not a guarantee for extension (I was 80% turned 100% and did not get an extension). In other words, they'll look at what is left for your benefits (12 months after exhausting post 9/11) and state that they will not cover your med school goals since the money could not cover you to the end of school and thus, would be money that is sacrificed to null (in their eyes) that could've been put to something else. Congress gives the $$$$ and it is getting very limited, so a counselor would push you aside knowing it would not lead to a final employment goal for yourself.

I would jump on ebenefits, log in (or create an account), and go ahead and apply for VR&E. You'll automatically get a letter and email stating you qualify for an interview with a counselor. That'll get you started in at least giving it a shot at this time early in your career goals to see what might align for you (financially speaking).

Apologize for the late reply, I've been retired from SDN for almost a month and am now trying to play 'catch up'. Reach our for additional questions if you have any!

 

[lebesqueintgravy]

Anyone know what to do if their VRC stops responding? Was going great over the past few months working with them to enact retroactive induction to replenish the GI Bill time I used in undergrad so I could apply it in med school. Was onto the last round of paperwork then she simply stopped responding. It's been 10 weeks now of me trying to contact her via email and phone to no avail, but the program specialist says she was able to contact my VRC and that I "would be contacted shortly". That was a few weeks ago

 

[BC_89]

Anyone know what to do if their VRC stops responding? Was going great over the past few months working with them to enact retroactive induction to replenish the GI Bill time I used in undergrad so I could apply it in med school. Was onto the last round of paperwork then she simply stopped responding. It's been 10 weeks now of me trying to contact her via email and phone to no avail, but the program specialist says she was able to contact my VRC and that I "would be contacted shortly". That was a few weeks ago

Seems to be about that time of year when semesters / terms are coming up and closing out. Speculation says IWRP forms are being fulfilled with some veterans requesting the BAH extension for job application status (granted after graduation with proof of CV/resume and job application forms) and that can take up a lot of time depending how many veterans the VRC is covering (or if they're covering for others).

Truthfully, it could really mean that if they took PTO for a week or two, that your email was piled down at the bottom mixed in with a plethora of other high/mid priority emails. Also (which happened to me), you could've unexpectedly gotten switched over to another VRC and communication is currently in limbo.

This definitely shouldn't take as long as 10 weeks. I'd encrypt your next email for them to open, leave a specific call back the same day. After the end of the last business day of the week, I'd drive out to the VA admin building (if you're close that is) and do a follow-up with all your information to the front desk individual after you go through the mini-TSA station they'll have for you. After that, I'd get a templated document that states your information and your attempt to reach out. While you bring that document, ask if they have a notary official nearby to validate your signature.

Once you go through all of that mess face to face, you'll make the government representatives strut their feathers due to what they see as an allegation for them to get involved in, and just like that you'll get ahold of your VRC rather quickly. If you're not in close proximity and this is a time sensitive matter, go to your congress representative (they set the yearly budget for VR&E after all) and cc your VRC in that correspondence.

Either approach will make people work a bit harder than normal to get you to your VRC.