Military Reservist Duties and Applying for Residency/Fellowship

[AdamPAC]

I am a reservist about to graduate PA school and have asked several residency/fellowship programs about their thoughts in regards to my military obligation and fulfilling the requirements for their programs. This has, up until now, always been met with an enthusiastic response something like, "We would certainly welcome a member of the military and be happy to work around those obligations." I am unsure if this is generally a response by people who are aware of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and attempting to sidestep any complaint, but would like to think it has always been sincere.

The reason I've asked up front (I do know that legally I have no obligation to disclose my military responsibilities when applying for initial employment) is that I just wanted an idea of an organization's attitude toward having this extra burden. The following is an e-mail exchange between myself and a program director of a fellowship/residency:

ME:

"Good morning, I am a PA student currently in my clinical year, soon to graduate in June. I am interested in applying for your fellowship this upcoming cycle...
... Lastly, my situation is that I am an Army Reservist who would also have that responsibility even while in a fellowship. Would your program allow my participation in my reservist weekend duties typically once per month if I were to be accepted?"

RESPONSE:

"Hi Adam, 

Thank you for your interest in our program. Unfortunately, given the nature of this Fellowship program, we cannot accommodate for missing any weekends. The Fellow has a call shift every Sunday when on Trauma call, and the call schedules when off-service are at the discretion of the service. 
I am sorry! Happy to still put you on our mailing list if your duties ever change in the future.

Best of luck with your endeavors!"

 I will not disclose which program, because I have also written a reply in order to give them a chance to change their position in the future with other applicants, see below. I am not writing this to be inflammatory or damaging in any way. I am not retaliating against this program, and am not applying to it, knowing their answer. I want to ask the following question and promote awareness/discussion.

Question: Does anyone know of an exception to USERRA as regards education programs wherein you are an employee, like a post-grad residency/fellowship?

 

I've typed a response, but have yet to send it. I am looking for feedback about whether anyone thinks this response is helpful in any way. I do not plan to apply to this program, but don't want them to go uninformed if that is indeed the reason for their initial reply.

"I would first like to thank you for the reply. Second, this is the first time I’ve received this response as to my military status and the fellowship opportunities I am considering (I have inquired to several). I know you do not mean any disrespect as to my service, but the reason I asked the question in the first place was to get an idea for how an organization views military service and its obligations. I do not expect everyone to know the law and understand many would not have any reason to know of it, but just want to make you aware of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). I do not know of any exception to this law in regards to medical employment or educational programs, but if you do know of one, I would welcome the information.

 

Thank you for the offer to add me to your mailing list, but I respectfully decline. I simply won’t waste mine or your time applying for an organization that does not value my service. I am replying this way only to give your organization a chance in the future to change its mind and possibly welcome with open arms another military member who would be a great addition to your program. I hope you will read and understand USERRA so that you can remain more open in the future, but I also hope you find the right candidate and make him/her a phenomenal provider in the mean time. Best of luck in your search."

 

Thanks for any replies!

-Adam

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

Yeah, that dude just stepped in deep poop with that response. While residency, for PAs and physician, is educational, it is a job and they must follow all the same laws in regards to that. He has a lawsuit on his hands if you applied now and did not get in. Not advocating you do that.

[AdamPAC]

10 minutes ago, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

Yeah, that dude just stepped in deep poop with that response. While residency, for PAs and physician, is educational, it is a job and they must follow all the same laws in regards to that. He has a lawsuit on his hands if you applied now and did not get in. Not advocating you do that.

Definitely not looking for lawsuits. Don't need that in my life. Just wanted to put this out there in case it comes up for anyone else and for general awareness. Thanks for the reply.

[AdamPAC]

Just to update on this topic and the exchange quoted in my original post:

I did send the response almost word-for-word as above and received a quick reply with an apology and an invitation to apply regardless of military affiliation. The program director stated that he/she had no knowledge of the protections against military discrimination. This is probably the case many places where someone who is trained as a clinician or in some other skilled position and not in an HR or managerial role. The response seemed genuine and not really a CYA type of placation, but who will ever know for sure. Not saying that not knowing the law is a great excuse, but if you've never had a military applicant before, why would you know? 

I can't avoid mentioning my military obligations on my applications, because I am in a military school. If I wasn't, I don't know that I would mention my reserves status until after a first interview, but then would my integrity be called into question? Just food for thought.

[dphy83]

A bit of stretch to infer that the program director or the organization does not value your (or anyone else's) military service. Don't take their stance personally.  It is a short time frame that they have to cram as much education and training in as possible. You would be missing out on a lot of stuff to fulfill your Reserve duties.

I'll add that there are exemptions for protections afforded to employees in non-recurring roles (which a fellowship/residency certainly would be) as far as guaranteeing re-employment. Not sure if that extends to initial employment.

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

42 minutes ago, dphy83 said:

A bit of stretch to infer that the program director or the organization does not value your (or anyone else's) military service. Don't take their stance personally.  It is a short time frame that they have to cram as much education and training in as possible. You would be missing out on a lot of stuff to fulfill your Reserve duties.

I'll add that there are exemptions for protections afforded to employees in non-recurring roles (which a fellowship/residency certainly would be) as far as guaranteeing re-employment. Not sure if that extends to initial employment.

I personally don’t care if people value my service, but I expect them to follow the law. This man is very much in violation of federal law and honestly I would report him. There are plenty of times a resident doesn’t finish a rotation because of paternal or maternal leave, and they stay on an extra month or 2 after residency is technically completed to catch up. They could easily offer him the same. They just don’t want him because it would inconvenience the call schedule. If people can get pregnant and burden the call schedule, they can serve their country and have it worked out.

 

please cite any exemptions. There may be some, but I’m not aware of them and this certainly doesn’t count because PA residency isn’t exactly like physician residency. It falls under a true employer-employee relationship and not education since only a few programs have accreditation.

[AdamPAC]

On 2/24/2020 at 12:07 PM, dphy83 said:

A bit of stretch to infer that the program director or the organization does not value your (or anyone else's) military service. Don't take their stance personally.  It is a short time frame that they have to cram as much education and training in as possible. You would be missing out on a lot of stuff to fulfill your Reserve duties.

I'll add that there are exemptions for protections afforded to employees in non-recurring roles (which a fellowship/residency certainly would be) as far as guaranteeing re-employment. Not sure if that extends to initial employment.

I did realize how that would sound and I changed the wording before I sent the reply. I don't think anyone at this institution is actively picketing against the military, but I guess I was kinda angry when I wrote the above. That's why I changed a few things before I sent it, because nothing represents us all worse than angry, unthoughtful responses.

I get that I would be missing some stuff to fulfill my military duties, but one weekend a month does not a residency break. I think plenty of these programs would or should be willing to add on a couple of weeks to the end in order to accommodate military obligations, like LT_Oneal said.

Like I said before, this person's response to my citation of USERRA seemed like one of genuine surprise and I sincerely think he/she had no knowledge of the law, which is understandable for a civilian who probably hasn't worked with military before.

Hopefully I get accepted to one of the residencies I've applied to and can update this thread in a year or two with a feel-good post about how it was handled.

[dphy83]

I get that. And I get how it's frustrating. Both things (military and residency) require specific time commitments though. And residencies are often budgeted positions so they cant necessarily extend your residency a couple of weeks to accommodate for time missed for drill because then your position would overlap with the new cohort, and they might not be approved for your extended cost plus the new cohort of residents/fellows. These positions are also salaried so they'd still be paying you while you're away on drill. The occasional weekend really probably wouldn't be an issue, but I dont know how youd get away with a 2 week drill. It's just a tough spot on both ends. But if there are programs that are open about working with you then I'd stick to those. Best of luck.