Prior military, now attending MD, Internal Medicine Board Certified. Applying for USAF active duty FS. Is process long, any insight, etc?
Thanks!
Prior military, now attending MD, Internal Medicine Board Certified. Applying for USAF active duty FS. Is process long, any insight, etc?
Thanks!
To answer your question, it will take a minimum of six months but could be much longer depending on who your recruiter is and if you have any medical issues. To be a Flight Surgeon you pretty much can't have anything wrong with you other than maybe seasonal allergies and a few other minor issues.
Your vision must be correctable to 20/20 each eye with spectacles, you can't be color blind, and you must have normal depth perception. When filling out the H&P forms you should not check for example that you once had a headache or heartburn other minor illnesses; it just slows down the process. Of course if you've ever had major head trauma you should put that down, but for example, if you've ever had a Grade III or worse concussion you should mention that, but be warned, that also could mean you might not pass the physical. You also have to send them all your diplomas, transcripts, licenses, board certification certificates, etc. And in your case your prior military DD214, etc.
I would however suggest you think long and hard what your long term career goals are. If it is to wear a uniform then consider the Reserves. You can continue in your specialty but still part of the Air Force.
If you join the Air Force and go into Internal Medicine then your skills will stay relatively current. If however you want to become a Flight Surgeon your IM skills will suffer, greatly. You will be involved in performing physical exam on pilots, pilot-applicants, and other aircrew which involves a lot of administrative paperwork (actually now all on a computer system). The physician is responsible for ALL data entry, you don't hand the paperwork to someone else, you enter it into the systems yourself. You don't face the patient while in the exam room, you sit at a computer and start typing as the patient is speaking.
You should be aware of the fact that JCAHO has gotten much more aggressive requiring that hospitals only grant credentials to physicians with current experience. Therefore you need to have RECENT experience in your specialty. If you spend 3-4 years in Flight Medicine you may have trouble getting privileged when you go back to the civilian world, not to mention you will be way rusty. If you're thinking of doing some IM when you're a Flight Surgeon, forget about it. Your supervisor will plug you into the Flight Surgeon schedule like everyone else and won't let you go work in the IM clinics; they will need you for the Flight Medicine clinic.
Another point; military medicine is in some ways like going back into a residency; there is a vertical chain of command. So if you're coming from the civilian world where you are considered to be on a level playing field with your colleques; not so in the Air Force. Your supervisor could be the biggest dic-head you've ever met, but if you don't suck up to him/her they can ruin your career with one piece of paper. And some of them take great pleasure in having this power, and some abuse it, greatly. Many of the normal physicians get out as soon as they can. What that leaves are the abnormal ones and those who like the power; the ability to step on people at will. We've all met physicians with God complexes; now imagine that same individual with more rank than you; you can be crushed and your career ruined by one wackjob of a physician medical officer.
If you want to wear the uniform you could join the Reserves and still get a taste of it, but the once monthly Reserve thing is really boring for physicians; 100% physicals and minor training, no treatment at all because it is not allowed believe it or not. Any Reservist who is ill is sent to the nearest active duty medical facility or civilian facility.
All in all I would say don't do it; you will lose money (about half), lose your IM knowledge, and find it more difficult to transition back to the civilian world, and more.
It really is not worth it unless like one poster above; if you don't have a residency and just want to have fun for a few years while you figure out what specialty you want. But anymore than a few years is a waste of time.
