I hope everyone affected by Hurricane Irene is doing ok.
I noticed several comments regarding military service as a physician. Im an active duty officer considering USUHS next year and am confident about the decision to continue service in the military. I had the opportunity to shadow both civilian and military physicians and was astounded by the differences. The civilian doctors I shadowed were part of a group of primary care. They maintained very tight schedules and were only able to spend a few minutes with each patient. They all maintained 15 minute patient appointments, ate lunch at their desks and worked solid throughout the day churning through patients. Although I could tell each of them were satisfied with their jobs, I felt more one on one time with the patients was missing. On the other hand, at one of the Armys larger medical centers, I witnessed much lighter patient loads, which afforded the attending physicians and residents to attend daily training sessions and case presentations and allowed much more time with each patient. Each doctor I shadowed was able to spend ample time with each patient, discuss treatment options and answer all questions there was absolutely no rush.
In addition to serving a motivated patient base comprised of active duty members, spouses and children, the interaction between physicians and patients Ive observed is what I had envisioned for service as a physician. Granted, my civilian experiences have been limited, but I suspect tight budgets are responsible for aggressive scheduling and a lot of additional administrative work in the form of billing, etc.
Ive also been fortunate to shadow many specialists as well as primary care doctors. Although the military puts a lot of emphasis on primary care, the Army supports positions for most sub specialties within ENT, surgery, and pediatrics. As with most military sponsored programs, your performance dictates how competitive you are for these.
Although I am not currently in the medical field, I also find deployments exceptionally satisfying. For me, its my opportunity to throw myself completely into my primary job, interact personally with my crew and execute missions directly. Im expecting a similar form of satisfaction from future medical deployments as a physician.
Good luck to everyone I know this is a tough process. Especially for those who do not have any military experience, seek out those that are currently serving in the military medical corp and listen to what they have to say about their careers. I think it will give you a lot of confidence in your decision, should you choose to pursue medicine through USUHS or with an HPSP scholarship.
