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Other Pay: Medical Special Pay

Special pay for medical personnel is intended to narrow the gap between military and civilian salaries for medical professionals and provide a means to attract and retain them beyond initial obligation.

All medical pays are taxable.

The major medical pays include:

Board-certified pay. Paid monthly to eligible physicians, dentists and other health care providers who are board-certified in their specialties. Annual amounts range from $2,500 to $6,000, depending on field of expertise and years of creditable service.

Medical special pay. Medical and dental officers with critical specialties are eligible if they are in paygrades O-7 and below and have at least eight years of creditable service or no remaining active-duty service commitment for medical education and training. Creditable service is the time an officer spent in internship and residency, plus active-duty time spent as a medical or dental officer.

To be eligible, officers must have completed initial residency training and must sign a written agreement to remain on active duty for two, three or four years. The bonus amount varies by specialty and length of service agreement.

The current maximum is $50,000 annually for a four-year pledge for anesthesiologists, general surgeons, neurosurgeons and radiologists; the minimum is $13,000 annually for a two-year pledge for a variety of specialties.

Additional special pay. Medical officers who agree to serve one more year on active duty can get $15,000, provided they are not in an internship or residency. For dentists, the amount ranges from $4,000 to $15,000, depending on years of creditable service.

Variable special pay. This goes to medical and dental officers on active duty for at least one year and varies based on years of creditable service. Current annual payments range from $1,200 to $12,000 for medical officers and $3,000 to $12,000 for dental officers.

Incentive special pay. Physician specialists below the grade of O-7 who are not in internship or residency programs are eligible for annual bonuses of $13,000 to $36,000 a year if they agree to serve on active duty for at least one additional year.

Dental officer accession bonus. Qualified dentists who agree to accept a commission, be assigned dental duties and remain on active duty for four years may receive an accession bonus of up to $75,000.

Optometry Retention Bonus. Optometrists who are not in an educational or training obligation are eligible to sign a written agreement to remain on active duty for two years for a bonus. The bonus amount is $6,000 annually for a two-year pledge.

Pharmacy officer accession bonus. A qualified pharmacist who agrees to accept a commission, be assigned duties as a pharmacist and agree to remain on active duty for at least four years may receive an accession bonus of up to $30,000.

Pharmacy officer special pay. Pharmacists in paygrades O-6 and below who have completed their active-duty obligations for education and training and agree to remain for at least one more year qualify for retention special pay of $3,000 to $12,000 per year, depending on their length of creditable service.

Registered Nurse accession bonus. Qualified RNs who agree to accept a commission and be assigned nurse duties may receive an accession bonus of up to $20,000 for a three-year contract and $30,000 for a four-year contract.

Registered Nurse anesthetists incentive special pay. Certified registered nurse anesthetists are eligible to sign a written agreement to remain on active duty for one, two, three or four years for a bonus that varies by length of service agreement. The maximum is $40,000 annually for a four-year pledge; the minimum is $20,000 for a one-year pledge.

For details on medical and dental special pays, go to http://www.military times.com/money and click on “Pay Charts.”