IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 22 October 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090002976
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests 1 year of constructive credit as a result of his master's degree in microbiology.
2. The applicant states his date of rank does not reflect constructive credit for having a master's degree. He states he was recently told that he needed to petition this Board in order to receive such credit toward promotion.
3. The applicant provides a copy of transcripts showing award of his master's degree in microbiology from West Virginia University in May 1992.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The transcript provided by the applicant notes that he was awarded a master's degree in environmental microbiology from West Virginia University in August 1992.
2. In March 2001 the applicant was appointed as a United States Army Reserve (USAR) officer in conjunction with acceptance into the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program. The applicant was awarded a Doctor of Medicine Degree from West Virginia University in August 2007 and appointed as USAR Medical Corps officer in the grade of captain. His appointment order notes he was given 4 years of constructive service credit for his medical degree.
3. In 2007 the applicant was ordered to active duty and as of September 2009 his records indicate he was serving as a squadron surgeon in Iraq.
4. DOD Instruction (DODI) 6000.13 (Medical Manpower and Personnel) implements policy, assigns responsibilities, and prescribes procedures to carry out medical manpower and personnel programs. Constructive service credit provides an officer who begins commissioned service after obtaining the additional education, training, or experience required for appointment, designation, or assignment as an officer in a health profession, with a grade and date of rank comparable to that attained by officers who begin commissioned service after getting a baccalaureate degree and serve for the period of time it would take to obtain the additional education. The DODI provides the following:
Constructive service credit shall be awarded as follows:
Four years of constructive service credit shall be granted for completion of first professional degrees that include medical (M.D.), osteopathy (D.O.), dental (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), optometry (O.D.), podiatry (Pod.D. or D.P.), veterinary (D.V.M.), and pharmacy (Ph.D.).
Credit for master's and doctorate degrees in a health profession other than medicine and dentistry, whether it is the primary degree or an additional advanced degree, shall be awarded based on actual full-time equivalent education of up to 2 years for a master's degree and up to 4 years for a doctorate. Credit may not include time spent in attainment of baccalaureate or other lower degrees. No additional credit may be given for more than one advanced degree in a single field, or closely-related field. The total credit allowed for having both a master's and a doctorate degree may not exceed the maximum allowed for a doctorate.
The additional degree must add adjunctive skills to the primary specialty and must contribute directly to performance in the anticipated position in the military service concerned.
5. During the processing of this case, an advisory opinion was obtained from the Program Manger, Graduate Medical Education Division of the Office of the Surgeon General. The advisory official noted that constructive credit may be awarded only if such advanced education or advanced degree is required as a prerequisite for original appointment as a commissioned officer in a particular officer category. The opinion noted that the additional degree must add adjunctive skills to the primary specialty and must contribute directly to performance in the anticipate position in the military service concerned. Since the applicant was a practicing, board-certified family medical physician, the master's degree in microbiology did not tangibly add any value to his primary specialty nor did it reduce the length of training to meet specialty board requirements. As such the opinion recommended the applicant's petition be denied.
6. The advisory opinion was sent to the applicant for information and to provide him the opportunity to submit a rebuttal. No response was received.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There is no regulatory provision for the granting of additional constructive service credit for advanced degrees, except where such education provides adjunctive skills.
2. Although the applicant may have obtained a master's degree in environmental microbiology, that degree did not add any tangible value to his primary specialty as a family medical physician nor did it reduce the amount of time and cost to government for the applicant to received his medical degree. As such, the applicant's master's degree in environmental microbiology does not meet the requisite requirements for award of constructive service credit.
3. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
____x____ ____x____ _____x___ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
___________x______________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090002976
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090002976
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