§2004a Detail of commissioned officers as students at medical schools

Summary

Each military department may send commissioned officers to accredited U.S. medical or osteopathic schools to train for a doctor of medicine degree. No more than 25 officers from any one military department may start this training in a single fiscal year. To apply, an officer must be a U.S. citizen, have had between two and six years of active duty, be O–3 or below when training starts, and be chosen by competitive selection. The officer must sign an agreement to finish the medical course, to serve as a medical officer in that department after training, and to meet a service obligation. The service agreement requires two years of active duty for each year or part of medical school. The agreement can let the officer do part of that time on active duty and finish the rest in the Selected Reserve; any time left after leaving active duty counts as three years in the Selected Reserve for each unpaid year of training. The officer will be appointed as a regular second lieutenant or ensign and paid at that grade, except if prior service would give a higher basic pay—then the officer keeps pay based on the prior grade and years until normal pay in the new grade exceeds it; that pay is increased each January by the same percentage basic pay rises that year. The service obligation adds to any other obligations. Training costs come from the department’s appropriated funds. An officer dropped for poor conduct or academics may be required to serve in a suitable role, but never more than one year of active duty for each year they were in the program. No new agreements may be made while the President is legally allowed to draft people into the armed forces.