Joining the reserves

[DCJenn]

If he means enlisting in the Navy, then I would strongly recommend that he reconsider. The Navy reserve is being deployed as well as the Army and AF reserve units and I can't think that would be a good thing while in medical school. My husband attempted to stay in the reserve while he was in college after he had completed his enlistment and he found it very difficult to manage as they were competing for his weekends.

If your husband is interested in serving and is OK with a commitment after completing medical school he could go the HPSP route and he will earn a stipend while in medical school and then owe time (typically four years but since he's already halfway through M1, I don't know how it would work) once he graduates.

Navy physicians support the Marine Corps in addition to the Navy so there is a very good likelihood of deployment if not to Iraq then to Afghanstan.

Military medicine is really complicated these days. I would urge him to think things through thoroughly. The money is nice but it's not all that much considering that they will own you. Definitely it's not worth it as an enlisted person- he will still have to go to basic training, and the weekend incomes are a few hundred bucks a month. maybe. and reservists don't get any of the other military benefits except when they're on the two weeks or on the weekends. My ex was AF reserves and we got to use the BX four times a year. Period.

Jenn

[Auspicious]

I only have time for a short answer right now, but my husband was in the Navy Reserves. Is your husband talking about enlisting or getting a commission? Mine was commissioned but he says if you're enlisted "all bets are off." (Mine was actually enlisted in the Army Reserves from 1990-1998 and then commissioned in the Navy Reserves from 1999-2006.)

My husband had been drilling for the final two years of grad school, but when he got to MS1 he did not find that the drill schedule was compatible with his med school schedule. He repeatedly ran into situations where, say, there was a drill weekend and then he had a test on Monday. You're allowed to flex three weekends a year, but he realized he was going to exhaust that option pretty quickly. After four months of doing both, he resigned from active drilling to get through MS1. Plus even the flex option was only for officers, not enlisted.

Also, yes, you should absolutely be concerned that he could be deployed, especially if he's enlisted.

Sorry I don't have time for more right now--I'll be back this evening!

[Auspicious]

I guess I don't have a ton to add.

There was a guy in my husband's med school class, though, who was an enlisted reservist (not HPSP) and he did get deployed during med school. Because of that, he finished med school five years after starting instead of four (started a year ahead of my husband, but finished with my husband's class). After returning from his deployment, he then signed up for the HPSP, which meant he would at least finish med school without being deployed again until after intern year. He's now doing a military residency.

HPSP is a whole other ball of wax.

You're wise to get all the info you can, including from sources that aren't part of the military recruitment. Their job isn't to help you decide what's best for you or if you're making a choice that's fair to yourselves or anything--it's just to get you to sign up.

[DCJenn]

Here's the student information:

http://www.amsa.org/military/

Army info from Texas Tech but it's pretty clear, unlike anything he will here from any recruiter: http://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/admissions/army_hpsp.aspx

The Army's information: http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/medical/corps_benefits.jsp

and finally, the most important one:

http://www.dod.mil/dfas/militarypay/200 ... ables.html (these will increase in 2007- not sure how much) Tell him to note the difference in pay between the E-0 (enlisted at the start of basic) and the O-1 (Officer Corps in USUHS) and 0-3- the salary at the end of medical school.

Acronym definitions:

(HPSP- Health Services Professional Scholarship)

(USUHS- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences- the military medical school on the grounds of Bethesda Naval Medical Center)

BAH- Basic Allowance for Housing- included in any active duty military check- based on COL of the area in which you reside- i.e.- East Coast and West Coast stipends are much higher than middle america.

BAS- Basic Allowance for Subsistence. Not as much as BAH- this one is supposed to buy the eggs and bread.

Any more questions, just let me know- I have four more days with my source of all things military.

Jenn