1st year dilema- Navy HPSP

[CanuckianSatori]

I don't know if I'll ever finish my HPSP application at this point. I'm an MS1. My plan was get a three-year HPSP, serve a GMO/UMO/FS tour, get out after ~4 years (that includes internship), then pursue civilian residency debt-free. I feel I've got legit reasons to join Navy medicine, but I've been lurking around this forum for the past five months and I must tell all of you (and maybe its a loud minority) that you say very few positive things about MilMed. Sometimes I'm not sure when the truth ends and opinions begin on this forum, but either way its discouraging for us who are considering service.

I know there are people on this forum who do care about military medicine. Hopefully some of you can prove me wrong.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[IgD]

Navy medicine isn't all bad. If you can go into it with the right frame of mind and expectations you can have a good experience. The Navy desperately needs doctors. They will pay you an insane amount of money for medical school. In return you agree to give the government a pound of flesh. Your specialty choices are limited and you've got an over 50% shot of doing a GMO tour after internship. You have very little control over your life and the government will take its share of flesh when you least expect it.

Can you and your spouse(?) be flexible to the extreme or are you detail oriented with hard time line? If the former you might be a decent candidate for the military medicine machine.

You've got to make your own choice.

 

[Gastrapathy]

What are you looking for here?

If you want to be a UMO, are willing to deploy twice in your payback, don't care about delaying your training and are sure that you'll feel this way in 4 years, you might well be happy in the Navy.

 

[CanuckianSatori]

Can you and your spouse(?) be flexible to the extreme or are you detail oriented with hard time line? If the former you might be a decent candidate for the military medicine machine.

You've got to make your own choice.

I believe I can be flexible but I'm unmarried right now so I can't say if a future significant other/spouse would be flexible as well. I doubt they would, and I know service puts a strain on many relationships (pretty sure it almost ruined my parent's marriage actually, though they've never said).

To answer Gastrapathy:

I'm 24 now. I understand if I join the navy with the plan of doing GMO/FS/UMO time and out I'll be about 31-32 when I start residency.

-I'm interestd in the financial support from HPSP (short-term stipend and long-term no debt worries)
-I'm interested in working with an operational unit. I know its more like occ health, but I think its interesting to take care individuals that are highly motivated by performance and work to increase/sustain that performance, especially with some slightly risky jobs such as diving.
-I'll be able to do some work in a field a little bit. I know this is NOT a major component of GMO type work, but it looks like I wouldn't be as chained to the hospital as if I was working for a big civilian hospital system.
-Right now I'm highly considering Emed. I'd rather not do a navy emed residency because I feel I would get better training at a civilian program. I also would be more likely to match in a civilian program versus navy anyway.
-Even if I changed my mind about residency I feel I'd get better training a civilian institution because of greater patient volumes, greater patient diversity, greater patient actuity, etc.
-I know my skills will atrophy during GMO time and this would make it harder when I started civilian residency, but I'll just have to accept that I'll work with a steeper learning curve.
-A local Navy FS told me "you have the rest of your life to be an attending...so for me it seemed worth it to be a service doc for a few years and add something to my medical career that most other doctors never do"
-Quality issues aside, I don't want to do a navy residency because it will add to my commitment. I feel that longer I stay in the navy the less likely I'll be able to get out.

Any thoughts?

 

[Gastrapathy]

I believe I can be flexible but I'm unmarried right now so I can't say if a future significant other/spouse would be flexible as well. I doubt they would, and I know service puts a strain on many relationships (pretty sure it almost ruined my parent's marriage actually, though they've never said).

To answer Gastrapathy:

I'm 24 now. I understand if I join the navy with the plan of doing GMO/FS/UMO time and out I'll be about 31-32 when I start residency.

-I'm interestd in the financial support from HPSP (short-term stipend and long-term no debt worries)
-I'm interested in working with an operational unit. I know its more like occ health, but I think its interesting to take care individuals that are highly motivated by performance and work to increase/sustain that performance, especially with some slightly risky jobs such as diving.
-I'll be able to do some work in a field a little bit. I know this is NOT a major component of GMO type work, but it looks like I wouldn't be as chained to the hospital as if I was working for a big civilian hospital system.
-Right now I'm highly considering Emed. I'd rather not do a navy emed residency because I feel I would get better training at a civilian program. I also would be more likely to match in a civilian program versus navy anyway.
-Even if I changed my mind about residency I feel I'd get better training a civilian institution because of greater patient volumes, greater patient diversity, greater patient actuity, etc.
-I know my skills will atrophy during GMO time and this would make it harder when I started civilian residency, but I'll just have to accept that I'll work with a steeper learning curve.
-A local Navy FS told me "you have the rest of your life to be an attending...so for me it seemed worth it to be a service doc for a few years and add something to my medical career that most other doctors never do"
-Quality issues aside, I don't want to do a navy residency because it will add to my commitment. I feel that longer I stay in the navy the less likely I'll be able to get out.

Any thoughts?

Assuming that your personal life doesn't change, a few years as a DMO might well be fun.

You do have the rest of your life to be a staff physician.

You'll be able to catch up as a resident. We all did it. Its really not that hard because no one really expects an R2 to know anything anyway.