Well, hi and welcome to talk about it, Tuesday or welcome to VA Careers Live.
My name is Mike Owens and I'm a national recruiter with the
Veterans Health Administration as well as your host for our weekly segment.
Talk about it, Tuesday.
Now, as always, if you're tuning in for the first time, I wanna let you.
Um, first of all,
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So,
uh with that being said, I have some housekeeping stuff I wanna talk about today.
So we have another birthday on the horizon.
All right.
Yes. Yes.
We have another birthday, Aris and one of my producers,
Ashley today is her birthday and I just want to
take this time to wish her a happy birthday.
And the reason I do this because you guys see me or you see Tim and you see Kendra.
But there are a lot of things that go on in the background
that you don't see to make us look good.
And so I definitely would not want to go
without making sure I recognize them when I can.
So Ashley, happy birthday.
And if you all have a second in the comments section,
go ahead and wish Ashley a happy birthday
and Ashley, she might wanna uh take all week to celebrate her birthday.
So if you have any great ideas that she can do this week to celebrate her birthday,
go ahead and put those in the comments section too.
So once again, happy birthday, Ashley.
And I hope that this birthday is the best ever.
All right. Now, with that being said, we're gonna go to our broadcast today.
So we always talk about the great benefits that we have here
at B A and today we're gonna talk about a good one.
We're gonna talk about our specialty education loan repayment program. Again,
that's our specialty education loan repayment program or S E L R P.
Now, we, you know, I'm not gonna talk about it.
I have an awesome guest that's gonna talk about it today. So my guest today,
uh he works and he works under V H
A in the scholarships and clinical education office.
He serves as the manager of the Specialty education
loan repayment program or S E L R P.
Uh He's retired from the Air Force, go Air Force.
I'm also retired from the Air Force, so it's good to have that in common
and he's from the great state of Indiana.
So without further ado I want to bring to the stage Mr Rodney back. How are you, sir?
Good, Michael. How are you doing, Mike? Good. I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
How's the weather out there? Where are you living?
Uh, it is cooling off quickly.
We've been in the nineties here recently, but it's been dry and they're saying that,
uh, here by the end of the week we should be,
our high will struggle to get out of the sixties. So we'll see
what, who I'm jealous. I'm jealous. I am jealous today.
They're talking about more triple digit, uh,
triple digit temperatures here in New Orleans.
So, but,
uh, good to have you on. So, um, are you ready for our interview today?
Sure.
So the first question I have for you.
So I know we talked about you being the S L R S E L R P program manager, but
let's go back a little bit. How did you first come to work at VA?
Well,
I, I actually, I started off, I was a, uh, contractor, uh, working for the US, uh,
office of personnel management.
I was one of those guys that went around and did the, uh, uh,
background investigations, uh for, for national security.
And, um,
so I was retained by those folks, those folks, but I was a, um, a, a contractor
and, uh, and I wanna say it was probably around 2013, I guess the, uh,
the federal government shut down
and all my work dried up.
But what work that was available out there went to employees.
And so I got to thinking, man, I need to get a, uh,
I need to get AAA real job, one with great benefits and one with a,
with another purpose and, and, and working with excellent people,
great benefits and, and has a AAA purpose,
a real purpose similar to what I was doing uh as a, a special investigator. And um
that led me to the VA so like nine years ago, this past July,
I started working as an hr specialist um
uh up in Detroit and uh that's how I started my, my VA career and, and of course it,
and what was really cool was with O PM.
I mean, I was an hr guy with a badge. I mean, how, how cool is that? Right.
Right.
So, yeah, it's, it's funny how we all have those, those moments where we realize.
Yeah, I have to get a real job now. Yeah. Can I get a real job?
So that, that's awesome.
So, um as I mentioned earlier,
you served as the uh program manager for
the uh specialty education loan repayment program.
So can you tell us a little bit about your current role?
Sure, as uh you know, Mike, I've got the,
I've got the greatest job in the whole wide world.
I think, I mean,
who, who else for the VA works or anywhere for that matter of fact,
gives away money.
And, uh,
and, and so, uh, under the specialty education loan repayment program give away,
uh, pretty much, uh,
money for physicians who are still in residency or fellowships.
Uh, that, that the va desires, um, I'll give them, uh,
$40,000 a year while they're still in residency
training to help pay down medical debt.
Oh, wow.
Oh, wow, that's awesome. You know, that's, that's the,
that probably, uh, tickled some ears when you said that you like to give away money.
So, just remember,
just remember guys, Rodney is the, the money man over here at the VA. So,
so if you're, uh, if you're, if you're a physician and you're, you're, you're, um,
you know, you're,
you're interested in the va just make sure you
tag stay alone and listen to this program.
So,
um, you know, I know,
um,
again, you're a program manager for the S A L R R P program.
Uh Can you tell our viewers a little bit more about, about the program?
Just, you know, just a more general synopsis of the program is.
So the, the, the specialty education, uh,
loan repayment program is relatively new.
Uh It's only been around for, for a couple of years. Um,
it was brought about by the, uh, the, the Mission Act
and, uh,
and, and, and essentially what it, the way it's organized and set up is to,
uh, again,
uh if a, if a physician or a resident who is still in training,
um
has medical school debt, we can give them money to help pay down that debt
and, and in return, then they come work for us for however many years. Um
So if I give them, so,
so the interesting part about F E L R P is, is that,
um,
you know,
you can apply early.
Uh and, but if you, if you keep putting it off, then you're gonna be missing out on,
on more money.
And uh
so therefore an individual that is in their first year
of residency and they may have a four year residency,
that individual can get up to 100 and $60,000 to,
to apply towards med school debt where if that,
if that individual waits until their final year to apply,
they're not eligible for the program.
Oh,
ok. Awesome. That's good information.
So I hope if I have anyone in that's in residency watching, they're, they're really,
uh
they're really, you're really writing this stuff down.
So, um again, it sounds like a great program.
So let's say if I'm a student, you know, if I'm a student, when,
when should I start thinking about applying for this program?
So, so the soonest you can apply uh for this book, a program is actually in,
while still in medical school.
If you are a medical student and you have matched to a residency program.
Um that's, that's on our uh critical list.
Then, then uh you, you're more than welcome to apply for uh F E L R P and,
and just gave me an idea.
Some of those,
uh some of the programs that we have on our
critical skills list right now are like family medicine,
internal medicine, emergency medicine,
uh psychiatry, geriatric medicine, neurology, uh things like that.
So, so those are the kind of, of,
of occupations that we're uh specifically looking for.
Uh G I would be another one.
And, and, and obviously in internal medicine. So,
so those kinds of positions, if you're matched to a residency
during your meds uh during, during your medical, your final year of medical school,
then yeah, you're more than welcome to go ahead and apply.
So,
so the answer, the real answer to the question is the sooner the better uh to,
to apply and, and even if you're not eligible, I'm gonna say, hey,
you're not eligible.
But uh man, we'd love to have you apply next year, for example, um
keep, keep us on your radar uh because uh
you know,
I've got money burn a hole in my pocket and uh
and I'd love to help you pay down your medical debt,
right?
So, um kind of with that being said,
I know you kind of gave us a little bit some of the qualifications,
especially being a medical student that's already been matched to residency.
But what are some of the other type of qualifications that
are needed to be able to apply for this program?
So,
so in order to, in order to apply for this, obviously, you,
you must uh be currently enrolled uh or been
accepted into uh an accredited uh residency program.
Um
We would prefer uh one of the programs that uh that,
that I mentioned that were critical.
However, the va will accept other
specialties uh on an individual basis.
So, so for example, let's say we find that a,
that a uh particular facility might be looking for a dermatologist and the
individual and the physician is interested in S C L R P.
Then we'll go ahead and, and uh,
we'll offer them,
uh F E L R P. Um I, we, we may not be able to give out, you know, uh 100 of them.
But, but could we give out a couple of them? Yeah, we, we, we could,
um,
so,
uh that those individuals just need to be a
little more flexible as far as where they go.
But, but as far as the qualifications go,
they must be uh graduating from an accredited residency,
uh or fellowship,
uh
they must have graduated from a, an accredited uh US,
uh L C M E or Coco accredited medical school.
Um And if not, then they must have passed the E C F M G
uh for, for four medical graduates.
And then uh at that particular point in time,
they must also have medical school debt.
And so uh under S C L R P,
I cannot give them more money than what they have medical school debt.
So,
so if an individual has a debt student loan debt from undergrad,
and let's say a master's in public health, for example,
and they went on to get their MD degree
um
under S C L R P.
The only thing I can give them uh money for uh
reimbursement as far as loan repayment goes is for medical school.
Ok,
awesome. That's good information. So
I know you kind of give us some information today but if,
if I was a med student or I feel like I was, you know, eligible for this program,
uh where can I go to find out more about it?
You can uh you can Google S E L R P and that'll take you right to our website.
I'm sure you guys are gonna throw a link up or
whatever it is in the chat or something like that to,
to get the
um
uh it's, it's, it's long drawn out site. It's under the NTE
works. So uh I don't have it memorized but uh
but if you Google er P uh that'll take you right there.
Awesome.
So one of my favorite questions I like to ask my guest is,
what's your favorite thing about working at va
uh the, the people. Um and, and the mission. Um
I, you know, I think that the,
the caliber and the quality of the individuals that I work with are second to none.
Uh and, and as a disabled vet, um
myself, I,
I think about the mission that we do as far as taking care of our veterans and,
and I think S E L R P goes a long way to be able to provide quality health care providers,
uh, that are helping to take care of, of, of indi individuals such as myself.
Awesome. Awesome. So I'm gonna put you on the spot here for a second.
I'd like to do this to my, uh,
my guest that has served in the military, as I mentioned earlier, Mr back here,
he is retired from the Air Force.
So Rodney, what would you say
was your absolutely favorite duty station?
And why?
Well, I, I spent a lot of times, um,
well, I'll just say
I was stationed in missiles, uh, at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid South Dakota.
And, uh, I worked on ICBM S
and, uh,
and I just thought that was like the coolest job in the whole wide world. Um,
uh, but, uh, you know, at, at the same time, uh,
it, it was kind of a scary job too, uh,
knowing that, that we had that much power right there, uh, that we were working on,
uh, that could destroy, you know, certain things.
But, but,
but the fact that, that,
that job, we were a deterrent
to keep the world safe. Um, I thought it was just like the coolest job.
Awesome. That's awesome. It's always good to get those interest into a bit. See,
and, uh, as, uh, Rod and I were just talking, he was letting me know about his, uh,
his experience at that duty station.
That's what's like going to va you have you walk
into va facility talking to veterans and you'll hear hundreds
of these different stories of why people had their favorite
duty station or what their favorite job was and,
and the different experiences that they had.
So, um, thank you for answering that question.
And, uh, Rodney, thank you for joining us today. Uh This is a very important program,
the uh specialty,
then the specialty education Arm Repayment program or S L R R P.
Um We thank you for coming up coming on to give us the information.
I know there are some people in the audience who
either right now or in the future will see this program and, and it'll, again,
it'll definitely relate to them and they're gonna want to apply.
So we thank you for coming to give us the information, Roddy. Thank you.
Thank you very much for having me.
And again, uh, if there's any, any questions or whatever,
you guys can always email me at Rodney dot back at VA dot gov uh
with, with specific questions and I'll
definitely get back to you.
Awesome. So thank you.
So again, if you're just watching or you caught the middle of the program,
we were talking to Mr Rodney back.
Uh He's the program manager for the specialty education loan repayment program.
Um And if you have any questions about that specific program,
leave those comments and questions in the comments section
or uh Rodney gave out his email address.
So if you want to uh send him an email to get more information, feel free to do so. But
guys, we thank you for watching us today.
Again, as I mentioned earlier today is my uh producer, producer Ashley's birthday.
So if you want to give her a birthday, shout out, that'd be awesome.
But with that, thank you for watching and we'll see you next Tuesday on talk about it.
Tuesday. Have a great day.
See everyone.