How is a physician's life in military?

[sanrose]

Hello Everyone,


I am currently contemplating military medical training. I do not have any military backgrounds. Thus, can you please share your experiences as to life as a military medical practitioner? Can you give enough time to your family? Do you get enough holidays? How many hours do you work every week? Honestly, do you think you have missed out on something good that your civilian counterparts haven't?

Thank you for reading the question .

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[WernickeDO]

Your lifestyle will vary greatly depending on which medical specialty you choose. This is the same in the military as well as civilian. There are many, many threads that describe life in the military, the pros and cons of being a part of it, and the critical bits of knowledge you must obtain before signing up. I suggest you dip into those old threads, read them carefully, and have as much info at your disposal as possible before going down this road.

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

Ah...you got waitlisted at...woooo...a CA school...or maybe even accepted? Regardless congratulations!

I'm going to assume you have a sufficiently high GPA and MCAT score to achieve such a feat. I will also assume that you have developed the proper research and studying skills necessary to achieve said high GPA and MCAT. So ... try to apply those skills and start reading through the stickies on this sub-forum. But allow me to link you a few threads I have found quite enlightening.

Military Pro, Cons, Opinions. A classic read. From my understanding, those were the days of open warfare between the armies of the Cheerleading Sdners of the Army (CSA) and the United Sdners of Acrimony (USA). A conflict filled with the clickety-clack sounds of keyboards being hammered away, bruised egos, and carpal tunnel syndrome. I won't spoil the ending of this conflict.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/military-medicine-pros-cons-and-opinions.277310/

HPSP, USUHS, FAP. If you don't know what these abbreviations mean ... well you'll learn soon enough along with AHLTA, BUMED, BUPERS, AMEDD, MTF, GMO, HIV, HPV, MTV, etc.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/hpsp-usuhs-fap-threads.277317/

Army Medicine - Anything positive to say? Many threads like this one existed but this thread is recent and by far my personal favorite. Here we have a new generation of potential medical officers, much like yourself, being taught lessons in humility, finance, obligations, and of course more importantly, the meaning behind service by the victors of the CSA vs USA conflict. Here we have references to the Bible, Kipling, Heraclitus, Animal Farm, and...Maniac Magee...??? If anything start with this one since it's shorter and should lead you to other relevant threads.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/army-medicine-anything-positive-to-say.1050685/

I'm Out. I actually just found this tonight. Really good post...
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/im-out.1002576/

Read every page and think about this road you are contemplating.

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

It sucks. There's a lot written about it.

I've been a civilian for 7 months and it is SO MUCH BETTER than being in the Navy.

Here's a link to thread detailing my story

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-tale-of-bignavypedsguy.1082475/

 

[ProudMD]

Hello Everyone,


I am currently contemplating military medical training. I do not have any military backgrounds. Thus, can you please share your experiences as to life as a military medical practitioner? Can you give enough time to your family? Do you get enough holidays? How many hours do you work every week? Honestly, do you think you have missed out on something good that your civilian counterparts haven't?

Thank you for reading the question .

What from I've heard from current/retired military physicians, the biggest challenges in the military are the deployments and the PCS's. Moving around the country (and sometimes world) every 2-3 years requires substantial professional and personal sacrifices from your spouse.

You do get 30 days of paid leave every year, but in some instances, you might not be able to use all of them due to the needs of your unit/command/service.

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

What from I've heard from current/retired military physicians, the biggest challenges in the military are the deployments and the PCS's. Moving around the country (and sometimes world) every 2-3 years requires substantial professional and personal sacrifices from your spouse.

You do get 30 days of paid leave every year, but in some instances, you might not be able to use all of them due to the needs of your unit/command/service.

Working for an organization that doesn't care about or respect its doctors, places ridiculous demands on their time, and forces them to practice in unsafe situations with no way out.

 

[IlDestriero]

You do get 30 days of paid leave every year, but in some instances, you might not be able to use all of them due to the needs of your unit/command/service.

Does anyone not get this as a physician? It's only 6 weeks. I know some people that choose not to take much vacation because they want to work more and make the $$$, but I also know many that take 9-12 weeks/yr.
I know kaiser vaca is a joke for new staff, but I've never seen another place where the offered/averaged less than 6-8 weeks off.

 

[colbgw02]

Does anyone not get this as a physician? It's only 6 weeks. I know some people that choose not to take much vacation because they want to work more and make the $$$, but I also know many that take 9-12 weeks/yr.
I know kaiser vaca is a joke for new staff, but I've never seen another place where the offered/averaged less than 6-8 weeks off.

Not sure about Kaiser, but I know that vacation for physicians starting out in the GS system is crappy. For the first three years it's 4 hours (half a day) per pay period. The pay periods are biweekly, so that's just 2.6 weeks per year for three full years. And in year four in bumps all the way up to 6 hours per pay period, or a whopping 3.9 weeks. In year four of my future job, I'll be getting roughly four times that amount.

And for any propsective students out there, that 30 days isn't really 30 days. After the leave that's used on days you wouldn't be working anyway, that's a lot closer to 4 weeks than 6.

 

[notdeadyet]

Not sure about Kaiser, but I know that vacation for physicians starting out in the GS system is crappy. For the first three years it's 4 hours (half a day) per pay period. The pay periods are biweekly, so that's just 2.6 weeks per year for three full years. And in year four in bumps all the way up to 6 hours per pay period, or a whopping 3.9 weeks. In year four of my future job, I'll be getting roughly four times that amount.

Are you sure that applies to doctors? I was offered a contract for a VA job as a physician that was giving one full day per pay period as a physician, which comes out to be just over five weeks of vacation. And this wasn't something I negotiated.

 

[colbgw02]

Are you sure that applies to doctors? I was offered a contract for a VA job as a physician that was giving one full day per pay period as a physician, which comes out to be just over five weeks of vacation. And this wasn't something I negotiated.

It applied (applies) to my SO, who is a DA civilian physician. I'm not sure if it's a negotiable point, like salary is, but it certainly wasn't couched as one. Also, they can be a little loose with the language. If you want to stretch it, then she gets a day off per pay period too. It's just that half of that is actually sick time.

 

[notdeadyet]

Interesting. It must be unique to the VA. You start at 26 vacation days per year plus 15 sick days. The latter has no ceiling on accrual, which I thought was a handy perk in case of serious illness. The only downside I saw was only 2 weeks military leave, which was less by half than I saw at several academic places, which could pinch reserve physicians...

 

[colbgw02]

Interesting. It must be unique to the VA. You start at 26 vacation days per year plus 15 sick days. The latter has no ceiling on accrual, which I thought was a handy perk in case of serious illness. The only downside I saw was only 2 weeks military leave, which was less by half than I saw at several academic places, which could pinch reserve physicians...

That's good to know, as she's on the verge of a VA interview at our post-military location.

 

[notdeadyet]

Awesome. Good luck to her...