Guest Post – FY24 Navy Medical Corps Special Pay Guidance – What Changed?
By CDR Dustin Schuett, MC, USN
The FY-24 Navy Active Component Medical Corps (MC) Special Pay Guidance was released on October 17, 2023 following the release of the DoD Medical Corps Certification Pay, Incentive Pay, and Retention Bonus FY-24 document on October 1, 2023.
The most notable change is that Board Certification Pay (BCP) increased from $6,000 to $8,000 per year. The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) enacted on July 1, 2021 authorized an increase in Board Certification Pay from $6,000 per year to $15,000 per year. The increase to $8,000 in the FY24 plan is the first increase in Board Certification Pay since the FY 2017 MC Special Pay Guidelines released in September 2016. This change is retroactive to October 1, 2023, however, to receive this $166.67 per month increase in BCP, physicians must agree to remain on active duty for 12 months from October 1, 2023. Physicians will need to submit a request for the increase in BCP.
Several specialties received increases in Retention Bonuses (RB). Physicians in Aerospace Medicine and Pediatrics received $2,000 increases in 2-year Retention bonuses and Psychiatry received a $1,000 increase for 2-year retention bonuses. Aerospace Medicine received a $5,000 per year increase for 3-year RBs. Several specialties received $5,000 per year increases for 4-year RB’s including Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, OBGYN, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pulmonary Critical Care and Physicians in Subspecialty Categories II through V.*
The 4-year RB for Cardiologists, Radiologists, and Urologists increased by $10,000 per year and the 4-year RB for Neurosurgeons functionally increased by $21,000 as the Incentive Pay (IP) for Neurosurgeons on a 4-year RB increased from $59,000 to $80,000 though the actual Retention Bonus did not change.
Family Medicine physicians regained the option for a 6-year RB for the first time since the FY19 Special Pay document at $55,000 per year. The 6-year RB for Emergency Medicine and Pulm/Critical Care increased by $5,000 and the 6-year RB for Adult Cardiologists increased by $10,000.
A change to prior policy is that subject to acceptance by the Chief of BUMED, a physician with an existing RB contract who has served at least half of that RB contract may request termination of that contract in order to enter into a new RB contract with an obligation equal to or longer than the remaining obligation of the current RB.
The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act authorized an increase Incentive Pay (from a max of $100,000 to a max of $200,000 per year), despite this, no specialty has seen an increase in Incentive Pay since the FY17 Medical Corps Special Pay Document. There have been no changes to Incentive Pay for Interns, Residents, or General Medical Officers since the FY17 Special Pay Guidance. The cumulative inflation in the US since the FY17 Special Pay Guidance was released is over 28%.
A 2020 study by the Government Accountability Office found that physicians in 2/3 of specialties cannot reach the 20th percentile of civilian compensation for their specialty. The FY-24 Special Pay Guidance did not significantly change that statistic even without accounting for the 9.6% average increase in civilian average physician income.
*Subspecialty Category II: IM Nuclear Medicine,
Subspecialty Category III: IM/Pediatrics Subspecialties in Allergy, Immunology, Nephrology, Heme/Onc, and Neonatology
Subspecialty IV: Other IM/Peds subspecialties not in Cat I or III, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology, Geriatrics, Endocrinology, Clinical Pharmacology, Developmental Pediatrics, and Peds Intensive Care
Subspecialty V: Physician Fellowship Trained in Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Gynecologic Surgery & Obstetrics, and Urology
The views expressed in this blog post are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy of the department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.
This document was approved by the Public Affairs Office at Naval Medicine Readiness and Training Command San Diego.
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