I am new here!

Hi! I am new to this site and hoping to find some information and reassurance. This is a blessing to find! My husband starts his fifth and final year of residency in July. Hooray!!! After that we will be active duty (7/2007) and moving. I am really nervous about the move and starting to be active duty in the army. I have tried to find information about how the whole process works. I really don't know a lot about army medicine or the army in general. We have two daughters so school and housing is really important to us. I would be truly grateful if anyone is familiar with how the army matches doctors to the hospitals and what the time line is. Our limited expereince with paperwork and such has been that it changes all the time and they don't let you know anything too far ahead of time. I am little anxious over this big change in our lives and would be happy to hear any advice you have to offer. Thanks and I hope to get to know you all soon!

[DCJenn]

Anne-

I will post in great detail tomorrow! Suffice it to say that there is usually enough time to take care of things, but sometimes there isn't. There are usually competent people in charge of finance, but sometimes there aren't. There is usually a chance that your husband will be deployed, sometimes there's a guarantee. etc., etc., etc...

Welcome to the Army!

In all seriousness, it is as good or bad as 1) you decide it will be and 2) the where the Army decides to send you.

He should be interviewing and have some idea what hospitals have openings for what he's doing his residency in. I assume he's doing a civilian residency? He'll need to advocate for himself because the Army only 'knows' the people they've met and the people doing the military residencies are those people. Like I said, I'll post more tomorrow, but in the meantime, some helpful information would be:

1)what is he doing?
2)is he prior service?
3)has he done ANY rotations at ANY military medcens?
4)how much time does he owe in payback?

All of that can figure in where he'll end up.

Generally, you'll have a basic idea in February or March for a July report date. We actually had orders in hand in early February which is a miracle. Last time we didn't have orders until late march, even though we knew he'd been accepted for a fellowship. It all depends on the domino effect of who else is going where.

Jenn

More info

Yes, he is doing a civilian residency after an unexpected deferment. He is doing radiology and has no prior service. We owe 4 years. He signed up as a HPSP before med school. During med school he did 3 or 4 different 6 week rotations getting ready for the match but that is it. He hasn't even done officers basic.

Thanks for the quick reply. I look forward to learning more and feeling at ease with this!

[DCJenn]

Hey Anne-

First, tell him to get Officer Basic done ASAP. It's a 6 week course, usually in San Antonio.

Second, if he can, have him arrange some rotations next year at the Army medical centers. (The biggies are BAMC in San Antonio, Walter Reed here in DC, Tripler in Hawaii, and Madigan in Seattle- of course there are the overseas hospitals but it's a little late in the game to figure out rotations there!)

Because he's doing radiology, you need to wrap your head around the fact that it's very likely he will be deployed and Army deployments are for a year, unless they're super specialized (like our friend the Army pediatric pulmonologist who was 'only' deployed for six months). Also, even the small medical centers have need for radiology so unless you have a particular location that you want to go at a smaller base, you really could end up at a po-dunk place. Not that they're bad, we have friends from residency that LOVE Ft. Leonard Wood and friends that actually didn't mind Ft. Polk. Ft. Hood, TX is the largest Army base in the world and it's mind-bogglingly enormous and in the middle of nowhere.

Does he have contact with any of the Army people now? If not, tell him to starting contact the chiefs and let them get to know him. If you don't advocate for yourselves, no one else will. and even then, even if they want him and he wants them, there's no guarantees that it'll work out.

Feel free to ask away if you have any other questions. or PM me if you're worried- military medicine is a VERY small world.

Jenn

[Rapunzel]

Woa - The Army deployments for radiologists are for a year?! We were just told at the base we're heading to that Air Force radiologists only deploy for four months at a time! I hope that is still true for the AF....

[DCJenn]

yeah, the AF does deployments for no longer than six months, they just do them once a year. (We have friend who is an AF anestheisiologt who is getting ready for his second go-round) (and our friend the Navy psychiatrist is already on his second year-long deployment)

Jenn

Thanks for the info! I do have a few more questions if anyone would be willing to answer. (I know I seem totally clueless but it not for a lack of trying to find answers. Thanks for your time and patience).

1. How do you go about getting Officer's basic done. Will they schedule it? He was supposed to do it after his first year in med school. Something got messed up and they just said you can do it later.

2. How does moving work? We have heard they move you. Is this true and how does that usually go? Do they pack? How long does it take to get your stuff to the new place?

3. Have you heard of the army deploying radiologists for less than a year? We have been hearing 6-10 months? How far ahead of time do you usually know?

4. How much does an army radiologist make? I have looked on the gov. charts and have an idea but it seems like a lot of different things go into it. Are they paid more or less when they are deployed?

5. How long are they a captain before they move on to major?

6. Is it normal for the radiologists already in the army to call the places they want to be stationed at? Do they call around to see where the openings are and try to make deals?

I am sure I will have more questions.

Thanks again,

Anne

[DCJenn]

Anne-

1) To get OBC done- he'll need to talk to personnel. I'll ask my husband who he can call at WR- I'm guessing it can be done anywhere. (the call, not the OBC)

2) Moving- there are two ways- a DITY (do it yourself) or have the Army do it. We've always had them do it. Yes they pack you. We had a tarumatic move last time but all of the other moves (his and ours) have been great. We got our orders in Feb. We had five days to contact the travel office. We scheduled an appointment for early March. We picked the day for the packers to come and the movers come the next day. Very simple, very easy.

3) I haven't heard of the Army deploying anyone other than our friend for less than a year.

4) Army Radologists will make Captain's pay plus BAH (housing allowance based on where you live- DC it's 2200/mo), BAS (piddly amount), plus the thanks for being a doctor bonus (increases with numbers of years in), the thanks for being in the Army bonus (also goes up with number of years in) and the thanks for being a radiologist bonus. (or VSP, MSP and ISP) For example: VSP is monthly- at his years in, it'll be about 400/mo. ISP is in OCtober and that's the Variable Pay, from years 1-6 it's 416.67/mo. MSP for radiologists is 36,000/year. (in one very nice tidy sum) His regular 0-3 pay for 0-3 under six years is 4503.00/mo. If they are deployed they make more.

5) They're usually captains for six years before they make Major unless they're MD/PhD or have prior service as an Officer.

6) It's normal for anyone trying to figure out who has openings to call the Chiefs to inquire about psossible rotations- and THEN see if they like enough to want to go there. Believe me, we only have the illusion of control.

Hope that helps!

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

HI Anne- nice to meet you. My husband is at USUHS finishing his 3rd year of med school. Jen has been a wealth of information to me-- she is the ARMY guru. My advice to you is to sit back and let it happen. You can stress yourself out to death over this stuff, and I doubt you'll aquire more control over the entire process, even with all the stressing. From what I've heard, they are deploying the USUHS people (longer payback, more likely "career" military) before the HPSP. I would think that you might get away with a year or so before you have deployments to worry about, but I really don't know. Sally knows a lot about the HPSP side of things.

We did a DITY move, and it worked out well for us. We used the military discount on a moving truck, loaded up and unloaded (lots of help from family) and ended up netting about $6K. Since we had no money to start with, this seemed like a huge sum and it helped out considerably. Of course, our move was from Washington state all the way to the metro DC area, and they do the reimbursements by mileage. I know one family that does a DITY every time they move, and they seem to move a lot. Anyway, we found the paperwork for this not bad, but that is because they walked my husband thru it all at OBC, and they basically filled out the forms for him.

I think that separation pay is $250/mo when the husband is deployed. Not sure if that is more for higher ranks.

The military is making the promotion to major very mathematical, so I think that the 6-year mark is what it will take to get that promotion. Chances are you guys might have had it by then and decide to go to the civilian sector as soon as you can get out. The salary disparity between civilian and military rads is huge.

All in all, I have no complaints about my husbands experience with the military. Why would I though-- we are still in medical school and have the easiest living of all medical students out there, what with the salary to live on, health care covered, a nice BAH here in metro DC, and of course no student loans. Ultimately, I think my husband is well suited to the military and he really loves working with the soldiers and the military dependents. He has had great opportunities to meet famous people already-- and this is the 1st year he is actually working with patients! Good luck and feel free to ask questions!

Hi Peggy,

How does the DITY move work ? The army reimbursts you for all of the work? Thanks for the other info too.

Anne

[DCJenn]

When you meet with the travel people you let them know that you're going to do a DITY. You can make a nice little chunk of change, if you do it right.

I however, after moving I think 14 times in 10 years (after living in my parent's home (the same HOUSE) for almost my whole life decided that there's no way in hell I'm ever on-purpose moving myself again unless there's no other way around it.

Jenn

[DCJenn]

PS- It takes years of stalking military guys (marrying TWO) to accumulate this vast knowledge...

(Fort Detrick, Fort Meyer, Fort Meade, Andrews AFB, USUHS, Aberdeen Proving Ground, several ROTC boyfriends from several ROTC programs, I was an equal opportunty stalker. and not for lack of trying did I miss out on the Marines and the Navy. I can tell you everywhere in Annapolis those pretties are...)

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

PS- It takes years of stalking military guys (marrying TWO) to accumulate this vast knowledge...

Jenn- You need to write a book!

[peggyfromwastate]

Anne- They will reimburse you per mile on the dity, but it's per ARMY mile, not per actual mile you have travelled. For instance, they take the absolute shortest route from pt A to pt B, including little freeways and stuff that you'd never use with a UHaul. They also reimburse you each day of travel, and they recommend 300 mi/day. They will not reimburse you for more days of travel than whatever total ARMY miles you go divided by 300. They give the officer a certain amount, and all other dependents a fraction of that. It adds up to something, but it's not a significant amount. You can drive out one car and they reimburse you the weight of stuff in the car that you are moving (not including your children) so you have to figure out how to go to a weigh station to get your car weighed (and documented) prior to the move, then fill up the gas tank, and pack your car then get it weighed again. The ARMY will reimburse you for the difference. (Some people only do this part and let the movers take most of their stuff- this is a partial DITY and it can net you some money with considerably less hassle than the full DITY).

Another thing to remember is that they have limits on how much they will move before they start charging YOU. I believe for an O-1 it is 11,000 lbs, but this isn't too hard to look up. If you think you may have more than that, take that into consideration. When we moved, we were in a 3-BR house, we moved some appliances (never doing that again), 3 kids plus 2 adults, and we ended up with something like 10,500 lbs. So we were under the ARMY's limit, anyway, but we did leave behind a lot of stuff.

Good luck! All things being said, my husband never wants to do a DITY again. He did get the bulk of the work, so I don't blame him.