I'm starting medical school in 2025 and am looking at my options with my state's ARNG. I know it's not worth it purely from a financial standpoint, but I would like to serve. Is it possible to commission into the Medical Service Corp for the four years of medical school as a medical student, and then serve the remaining two years of my 6-year commission as a resident physician? I know that taking all of the common incentives (HPLRP, STRAP, MDSSP) add on additional time and I am not willing to commit to 16-20 years post-residency in exchange for a stipend + loan repayment.
I can really only find resources online for physicians/students who take the incentives and lock themselves in for a huge payback period. In those instances, they are (usually) protected from deployment as a student, but I can't find an answer on whether or not a student in the Med Service Corp *without* the incentives would enjoy this same protection.
Basically, I would like to serve six years and get base pay + GI Bill + lifelong experience and benefits while serving my country as a med student and resident.
Posted by Salsalover34
3 Comments
Have you spoken to a recruiter yet?
I am not an expert but to commission and serve you need a job/MOS. You can’t just be an officer unless you are in student status meaning the programs you referenced. You would need to complete officer training for your source of commissioning and whatever specialty training for your job.
For the Army that would be OCS/ROTC/BOLC and perhaps as a medical officer you would be finished after BOLC. You would be commissioned as a 70B and sent to your NG unit.
Go talk to a recruiter and see if there is something similar for ARNG.
Speak with a recruiter. I friend had his med school paid by the army guard, but also had to serve additional time after his school. But that was around 8yrs ago, incentives might differentÂ