Military Medical Officer Resignations
 The Army Medical Department (AMEDD) can include many medical career opportunities such as: physicians, dentists, nurses, veterinarians, allied health, and other health related programs. Resigning an AMEDD commission can be difficult.
The regulatory and policy procedures required for an Army medical officer - Reserve or Active Duty - to resign his or her commission can present significant challenges, not to mention the fact that medical officer resignations typically require up to four or five levels of command and staff approval before final decision. The entire process can easily last six to eight months; and I'm aware of cases which have lingered - unresolved - for two years or more, which is clearly against the best interests of all parties concerned.
About half of all the Unqualified Resignation (UQR's) inquiries I receive come from doctors in uniform. Doctors - and to some extent pilots, certainly Pre CoVid19 - have an array of opportunities in the civilian world which can lead to more autonomy and broader professional and financial reward than might be found over the course of a 20 plus year uniformed career.
While each officer resignation case is unique, one common thread appears in many of the Army Reserve medical officer (AMEDD) resignation cases I've handled: invariably, the medical officer has had extremely limited contact with a unit or higher headquarters, is not well-known to the system, and is often quite unfamiliar with how the Army "works" institutionally. As a result, the AMEDD officer's file usually has been "flagged" for failure to participate, or failure to update various credentialing and other administrative requirements, which only adds to the overall stress. These unresolved administrative issues can significantly impede an officer's resignation request as the UQR "packet" makes its way up the chain of command. As such, those administrative issues or "flags" must be identified, addressed and corrected or resolved in order to properly prosecute the officer's resignation through each level of the recommendation and approval process. I do this for clients through comprehensive communication and advocacy - up and down the chain of command - and persistent, dogged, yet diplomatic follow-through, up to and through the approval authority's final decision.
If you're an AMEDD officer, contemplating resigning your commission through a UQR - or if you're already bogged down in the process and you're finding it increasingly difficult to discharge your military service obligations successfully and need additional assistance, please consider contacting me for a consult and further discussion about the UQR process 214-363-1828 or Toll-Free: (866) 578-0164. I'll discuss your options, and if you choose, represent you throughout the entire process.
There remains a way out; but more than ever, it's important to bring on a seasoned professional to analyze, craft and then guide your Unqualified Resignation (UQR) request through the bureaucratic maze. Additionally, we have a number of former AMEDD clients who are more than happy to discuss their experiences with our firm.
FAQs
Why are resignations harder for military medical officers than for other officers?
Medical officers usually carry larger service obligations, because the military pays for their education and training, and physicians in critical wartime specialties are harder for the service to release. Most Medical Corps officers came in through the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which adds one year of active duty for each year of scholarship support, and additional obligations attach to programs like the Uniformed Services University and to certain bonuses. The result is a longer, layered obligation that needs careful analysis.
How do my medical school and residency obligations stack up?
For medical officers, the obligation from medical school and the obligation from a military residency (graduate medical education) are generally served at the same time (concurrently) rather than added together, while other obligations, such as certain bonuses or training at a civilian institution, are usually served one after another (consecutively). Because the math depends on how you came into the service and your training history, it should be calculated carefully before you submit anything.
Who counsels and approves a medical officer's resignation?
Medical (AMEDD) officers are usually counseled by both a senior line officer (usually an 0-6) and a senior officer within their own branch and specialty. The resignation is then processed through Human Resources Command under AR 600-8-24 like other officer resignations, – with input from the Surgeon’s/branch manager’s sections thrown in for good measure. The individual service Secretariats (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc) hold final approval authority.
How long does a medical officer resignation take?
Plan for several months, and often longer when a medical review or a recalculation of obligations and/or money owed Uncle Sam is involved. Considering recent experiences, these timelines have been getting longer, nearing 12 months or more before orders are cut in recent cases.
Every case is different. Past results don't guarantee a similar outcome, and the timelines here are general estimates, not promises. |
