When considering a career in military medicine, there are many unknowns. The practice model and opportunities are entirely different from those in the civilian sector. Salary and reimbursements for military physicians are often confusing to those on the outside. However, this information is actually freely available online. In this post, I will break down and explain military physician pay.
For sake of discussion, I will be referring to a single physician entering the military as a residency-trained attending. Military pay has several different components:
- Base Salary (depends on rank and the number of years in service
- BAS (base allocation for sustenance) untaxed food stipend
- BAH (base allocation for housing) untaxed housing stipend
- Specialty Bonus (bonus depending on specialty)
- Board Certification Bonus
The base pay can be seen in a chart format on the websites listed below. However, here is an excerpt:
BAH and BAS are based upon rank, household size, and location. This pay is tax-free. Areas with higher costs of living (California, Washington D.C., etc) receive higher BAS payment. This website calculates BAH based upon the zipcode and rank.
https://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bah.cfm
Bonus Pay:
Bonus pays are a more confusing aspect of military pay. There are several, but I will refer to three.
- Board Certification
- Specialty Bonus
- Retention Bonus
Board certification pay grosses an additional $6,000 annually. Specialty bonuses depend upon the medical specialty and can be seen in different charts and publications. In addition to specialty bonuses, there are accessions bonuses for physicians that join the military outside of scholarship programs. Finally, there are multi-year retention bonuses. These bonuses are paid annually after a physician signs on for additional years of service.
https://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/HPO4.html
For sake of example, let’s suppose a physician received the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), which covers their medical school tuition. After completing a 5 year general surgery residency program, they come on active duty to begin fulfilling a 4-year service commitment.
After coming on active duty in July, the base salary as an O3 (Lieutenant) with 4 years of service* is $5,362/mo ($64k/year). (*The HPSP scholarship should receive credit for 4 years of service.) Generally, there is a delay in paperwork and for three months, this physician will receive their base salary, BAS/BAH, and a 20k bonus as a general medical officer. After three months, this surgeon should begin to receive their specialty bonus, prorated monthly. (Caveat, there is often a significant delay in processing paperwork. It is not uncommon to receive this bonus in 6-7 months after submitting the paperwork (with back pay). The general surgeon may complete their board certification after a year, and will then be eligible to receive board certification pay.
Putting it all together, after the prerequisite amount of time has transpired and all of the paperwork has been completed, here is the approximate annual salary for an active duty, board certified, general surgeon in the military.
Show Me The Money:
$5,362/mo- Base Pay $250/mo- BAS* $1,776/mo- BAH* ($2478/mo in Washington, DC) $6,000/yr- Board Certification Pay $52,000/yr- Specialty Bonus =$146,000 gross salary per year *BAS/BAH is tax-free.