military service

[txlioness]

I just curious if anyone planned to join the military after completing their school and residency?

Anyone attending on a military scholarship?

I know that the Army takes podiatrists but not sure about the other branches of service. Does anyone know if the other branches (Air Force, Marines, Reserves (any branch), Coast Guard, Navy) accept podiatrists for service?

Just curious. I'm ex-Army and I was temporarily insane and thought about going back into the service for a split second before applying for pod school.

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[krabmas]

I just curious if anyone planned to join the military after completing their school and residency?

Anyone attending on a military scholarship?

I know that the Army takes podiatrists but not sure about the other branches of service. Does anyone know if the other branches (Air Force, Marines, Reserves (any branch), Coast Guard, Navy) accept podiatrists for service?

Just curious. I'm ex-Army and I was temporarily insane and thought about going back into the service for a split second before applying for pod school.

I have a friend that is in the process of joining the Navy during residency.

 

[Dr. Gangrene]

I just curious if anyone planned to join the military after completing their school and residency?

Anyone attending on a military scholarship?

I know that the Army takes podiatrists but not sure about the other branches of service. Does anyone know if the other branches (Air Force, Marines, Reserves (any branch), Coast Guard, Navy) accept podiatrists for service?

Just curious. I'm ex-Army and I was temporarily insane and thought about going back into the service for a split second before applying for pod school.

Army definetly has pods. Do a search on the forum. efs is currently a pod in the army, so you might want to pm him. navy has pods, and will repay up to 30000 of loans a year. Air force has pods, but I have heard that they only take you once your residency is done. I also believe army and air force do not help w/ loans.
efs is your best source that I know of, as he currently is an army pod.
good luck.

 

[efs]

OK. I'll try to answer the questions. Might not hit all of them, but I also have some news to break.

Army, Navy and Air Force have positions for podiatrists. None are helping while in school (no HPSP, etc.) The Army is the only one that has a residency program, which is a PM&S-36 co-sponsored by Eisenhower Army medical Center and Womack Army Medical Center. (Ft Gordon GA for the 1st year, then Ft Bragg NC for the second 2.) I'm not sure how the Navy program works, but you can be in the Navy (paid) while in a civilian residency. For Air Force, need to be out of residency first.

The Navy has some student loan repayment money available, but I am not sure of the details. The Air Force does not.

Until now, the Army did not either. This year, they decided to include Podiatrists in the Health Professions Loan Repayment Program. As of Friday, 7 were approved so some student loan help is available. It provides $32000 per year for up to 3 years with an additional year service obligation for each year. It is counted as regular pay, so 28% is deducted for taxes which means it really only puts about $20K/year towards reducing student loans. You also need to be fully qualified and licensed which excludes the residents from applying. I also see no guarantee that it will continue, but might be able to expect it to. It's been a hot button topic for quite a while. It's not as good as HPSP, but it is certainly better than nothing. (And it works out OK for me.)

If you were to do the Army residency and then apply for the loan repayment you could be looking at quite some time. The residency is 3 years with a 4 year service obligation to follow and then up to 3 additional years with loan repayment service obligation for a total of 10 years of service. For people with prior active duty time, this could put you close to retirement eligibility. Prior active duty service counts towards pay and retirement. Prior reserve service will count towards pay, but not towards retirement.

Military service has its pros and cons, like everything else. It is certainly a viable option to consider. If you search on my old posts you will probably find a bit more info.

Hope this helps.

 

[efs]

PS

Marines do NOT have any medical assets, they rely on the Navy for their health care support.

I do not think the Coast Guard has any podiatrists.

The Army Reserves does have positions for podiatrists, but I am not sure what additional benefits they have to offer. Not sure about Navy or Air Force Reserves, but I suspect they also have some positions.

 

[Feli]

There was a pretty good article on this topic in the APMA News a couple months ago. I'm not sure this like will work for non-members, but maybe...
http://www.apma.org/s_apma/bin.asp?CID=985&DID=21618&DOC=FILE.PDF

I'm sure you would get your trauma RF numbers (and then some) and be pretty marketable once you finished the Army PMS-36. You'd also imagine that pod research opportunities (and maybe funding) would be pretty due to the volume and repition which is encountered and the fact that most active military are similar age/health status. I'd give that training program pretty serious consideration if I were planning to stay in the south after I graduate (which I would be if my fiancee had her way ).

...The residency is 3 years with a 4 year service obligation to follow....

CASPR/CRIP says you make ~$40k per year during the residency plus housing and food allowances, which is more than fine for cost of living in NC, but what do the obligatory 4 years afterwards pay? All I've heard is rumors.

 

[efs]

The numbers for CASPR/CRIP is based on someone single with no prior military service. You start out as a Captain, with no time in service. Right now ~$40K/year, but there are annual cost of living adjustments. It also goes up after the first year, second year and every 2 years after that. Promotion point to Major is usually around 6 years at which you could expect ~$500/month pay increase. There is also a housing allowance (included in the $40K figure), which varies by pay grade and location as well as marital status. This part is not taxable as it is an allowance. There are a lot of other benefits, which I won't go into. Bottom line is that you would have to have more on the civilian side to make up for the differnce in benefits. Pay won't increase dramatically after residency, but it isn't too bad. For those with prior service (Reserve or Active) you may start higher on the pay scale based on years of service even if you still start as a Captain. Those with > 4 years enlisted service get another boost in that there is a seperate pay scale for them (Paid as O-3E rather than O-3). Depending on where you fall there it may make a couple hundred per month difference. The pay scales can be found online through DFAS.

 

[txlioness]

Thanks for the info, efs!!

efs, were you prior service?

 

[efs]

Yes, I was prior service. My last duty station was at Ft Bragg, where I had some exposure to the residency program prior to deciding to go to Podiatry school. I more or less went with the intention of applying for the program and coming back to active duty. I stayed in the reserves during school which continued my service (and allowed me to be a little higher on the pay scale).

It has worked out reasonably well for me, but I would also be the first to tell you that while it is a good program and has a lot to offer, it isn't the right program for everyone. I highly recommend you look into it if you think it might be. Even if you don't think it is, it can still be an excellent rotation as a student. It can expose you to some aspects of podiatry that you are not likely to see elsewhere.

 

[JEWmongous]

just curious, can one participate in an externship at a military hospital (ex:Madigan Army Medical Center) without any intention of joining the military/entering a PM and S military residency?

 

[efs]

just curious, can one participate in an externship at a military hospital (ex:Madigan Army Medical Center) without any intention of joining the military/entering a PM and S military residency?

Yes. You can to a rotation at any of the military sites without intention of entering the miliatry. You could visit Madigan, but I would also recommend visits to Ft Bragg (Womack Army Medical Center), Ft Benning (Martin Army Community Hospital - Dr Gumann), or Ft Gordon (Eisenhower Army Medical Center) for those who might be closer to those sites.

I believe the residents at the Tacoma VA program rotate at Madigan even though it is a civilian residency program. I'm not sure of the current status or affiliation of this program, but think this is still true. At one time this program had an affiliation with the California school, but I am also not sure of the current status on that either.