Pros of military medicine

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Originally Posted by notdeadyet

What I think IgD means (or "meant" when he wrote it last year) is that the military might force you to do a GMO tour after your internship year before going to residency. This is more likely if you're interested in competitive specialties, especially in the AF or Navy. After two years working as a GMO, you can apply again for your specialty of choice. If you don't get it, you'll have served your four years and now have to apply for the civilian match.

Ok..think I get it now.

Does the Navy ever allow you to do a civilian residency?

What is a GMO?

Originally Posted by genomic girl

Ok..think I get it now.

Does the Navy ever allow you to do a civilian residency?

What is a GMO?

Yes, but you have to apply for a deferment and it will be based on what the needs of the Navy are which change from year to year.

GMO = general medical officer which generally means you either get attached to a ship or go w/the grunts in the marine corps. You can also be an undersea medical officer or flight surgeon which entails 6 more months of training. All these are generally for docs w/1 year of internship under their belt.

You get WAY better teaching and a more demanding and fast paced environment to learn in and grow as a physician. Which in turn makes you a better doctor on the civilian side. IF you ever wanted to leave the military of course.

Originally Posted by brazz15

you get way better teaching and a more demanding and fast paced environment to learn in and grow as a physician. Which in turn makes you a better doctor on the civilian side. If you ever wanted to leave the military of course.

fail

Originally Posted by brazz15

You get WAY better teaching and a more demanding and fast paced environment to learn in and grow as a physician. Which in turn makes you a better doctor on the civilian side. IF you ever wanted to leave the military of course.

Pre-med = NO credibility

Even better in Canada!
Canada (a.k.a. Canuckistan to many of us) is a peace-loving country and we rely on our big brother Uncle Sam to do the heavy lifting. This means it's even harder to get physicians / med students to sign for patriotic duty.

Here are some advantages for 1st year med students:
- Pretty much all pros that were mentioned for the Americans
- $40,000 CDN sign in bonus (BTW, Canuckistan money is now worth more than it used to)
- All training expenses paid, including tuition, books, toys,
- $44,000 first year salary while in med school, increasing to $52,000 in 4th year
- Full military benefits
- 4 weeks paid vacation and the opportunity to contribute to your pension while in school
- Paid residency (Has to be Family Medicine / General Practice) $54K - $58K
- After 5 years, 5 weeks paid vacation
- After residency: Promoted to the rank of Captain (Air Force / Army) Or Lieutenant (Navy) and pay starts at $134K, with big yearly increments
- Unlimitted sick time (must be justified, so you need to brush-up on your acting skills)
- Great patients
- Moonlighting at civilian facility is allowed (even encouraged) for extra ca$h, as long as it doesn't interfere with military duties
- No HMOs! - That one's a given... Healthcare is socialised in Canuckistan!
- Less hours than civilian MDs, unless you moonlight and get more money from the Province where you practice.
- More time with each patient, which allows for more history taking and discussion & planning with said patients
- No business management
- No need to hire staff - All healthcare professionals hired by the Department of National Defense (or civilian hospitals)
- Team-based environment
- You get to get out of the office more
- Paid environmental training (Flight Surgeon, Dive Medicine, etc...)
- Military personnel tax deduction
- After four years as a Family Practitionner, One can leave, can apply for specialty training (Internal Med / General Surgery / Anasthesia / Ortho / Radiology / Psychiatry) and get Specialist Pay (Yes - Psych's earn as much as surgeons) or will usually be promoted to Major (or Lt. Commander in the Navy). During specialty training, one earns his/her full pay (Approx. $150K)
- All Canadian military hospital were closed, meaning hospital duties are performed at civilian hospitals. Bases and stations still have medical inspection rooms, though.
- In Canada, military personnel don't usually wear uniforms off base and they are not as respected as they are south of the border, but some chicks do dig guys in uniform.
- I am trying to avoid repeating what was already said, as pretty much the same advantages that our US brethren apply. I am just trying to enumerate the extra or different advantages Canucks have as far as military medicine is concerned.

OK, folks, any more from the pro perspective?

Originally Posted by brazz15

You get WAY better teaching and a more demanding and fast paced environment to learn in and grow as a physician. Which in turn makes you a better doctor on the civilian side. IF you ever wanted to leave the military of course.

: laugh::

In all honesty the one thing that I do miss about military medicine is not medicine. It was the people that I met and some of the friendships that I've made. Over the years, I actually still do keep in touch with a handful.

The GMO time was a great break and allowed me a chance to really sit down and think about what I wanted to do professionally, personally and with my life in general. I got paid really well for basically being a nurse and lived in a nice bachelor pad in a city and culture I never dreamed of being in. It was actually a bit of an adventure. Well, maybe not...

In the end, it all worked out and I'm a happy well adjusted civilian who is proud of doing his small part.

Originally Posted by brazz15

You get WAY better teaching and a more demanding and fast paced environment to learn in and grow as a physician. Which in turn makes you a better doctor on the civilian side. IF you ever wanted to leave the military of course.

Ha ha!

Either this is a troll account or you haven't read much of the board.

Originally Posted by i want out

Ha ha!

Either this is a troll account or you haven't read much of the board.

IWO...you should change your username...if memory serves me right, you should be out of the IRR by now

Originally Posted by GMO2003

IWO...you should change your username...if memory serves me right, you should be out of the IRR by now

I should but don't really know how.

Any USUHS prior or current students out there that can give some advice to a prior service member (myself). I went to the pro military forum and I'm not seeing a lot of positive energy. PM would be great too if anyone is able. Thanks SDN military members!