HPS Advice

[aahigh]

I am a medical student from a 6-year program and will be entering third year here in the fall. For our program this is the time for all the Military recruiters to come and tell us about their programs and encourage us to apply for the scholarship. I have been interested in applying for some time now and I have finally completed two workbooks; one for the Army and one for the Air Force. I decided that I didn't know enough about the process to make a very good decision regarding the scholarship and my hunt for answers led me to this site.

My medical school is quite expensive ( I will probably graduate with well over 200,000 in debt ) so the military paying for all of it comes as a very attractive offer. I work some part-time jobs as well in order to make a little extra money to live on and with the scholarship stipend I would be able to quite those and focus more on school. I don't care to work hard...I have been doing that all my life but what does concern me is the ammount of people on the boards that say my training will suffer. Thus far I have maintained an above average GPA and I beleive I can score well on the boards. That being said it is my goal to become a surgeon and preferably a great one, so my question would be is the training really that sub-standard? If I do join what are the good posts and residencies? Will I fair better to be a GMO and do residency in the private sector? Thanks for your opinions.

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[R-Me-Doc]

I am a medical student from a 6-year program and will be entering third year here in the fall. For our program this is the time for all the Military recruiters to come and tell us about their programs and encourage us to apply for the scholarship. I have been interested in applying for some time now and I have finally completed two workbooks; one for the Army and one for the Air Force. I decided that I didn't know enough about the process to make a very good decision regarding the scholarship and my hunt for answers led me to this site.

My medical school is quite expensive ( I will probably graduate with well over 200,000 in debt ) so the military paying for all of it comes as a very attractive offer. I work some part-time jobs as well in order to make a little extra money to live on and with the scholarship stipend I would be able to quite those and focus more on school. I don't care to work hard...I have been doing that all my life but what does concern me is the ammount of people on the boards that say my training will suffer. Thus far I have maintained an above average GPA and I beleive I can score well on the boards. That being said it is my goal to become a surgeon and preferably a great one, so my question would be is the training really that sub-standard? If I do join what are the good posts and residencies? Will I fair better to be a GMO and do residency in the private sector? Thanks for your opinions.

OK, here are some semi-random thoughts on the matter:

#1. Keep this in mind: regardless of whatever anyone posts on this forum, ultimately it is YOUR decision, and it's a pretty big one, so think long and hard.

#2. Browse through the forum. Note that the "con" arguments (generally posted by current or former ACTIVE DUTY ATTENDING PHYSICIANS) greatly outnumber the "pro" arguements (generally posted by non-military pre-meds, med students, or nonmedical active duty types). Hmmmm . . .

#3. I agree with and will therefore re-iterate what many of the both pro- and con- posters have said: DON'T DO IT JUST FOR THE MONEY!!!!!!!!! Only join the military if you would have joined the military anyway even if you weren't going to be a doc.

#4. Financially, it's probably either a losing proposition or at best a breakeven, depending on your specialty. Sure, you won't have debt, but once you are out of residency and are an attending at some military hospital, if you are anything other than a pediatrician or shrink you will probably be paid well under 50% of what you'd make in private practice. Example: Army radiologist = $140k. Private practice radiologist = $350K and up. Go figure.

#5. I would have to say that at this time, yes, surgical training in the military is suboptimal compared to good/average civilian programs. And then you will go on active duty and likely be underutilized, letting your skills erode even further. The surgeons who post here can (and probably will) fill you in more on that.

#6. The military OWNS YOU, lock, stock and barrel. You do what they want, how they want, when they want. Goodbye autonomy.

Good luck whatever you decide . . .

X-RMD

 

[Galo]

OK, here are some semi-random thoughts on the matter:

#1. Keep this in mind: regardless of whatever anyone posts on this forum, ultimately it is YOUR decision, and it's a pretty big one, so think long and hard.

#2. Browse through the forum. Note that the "con" arguments (generally posted by current or former ACTIVE DUTY ATTENDING PHYSICIANS) greatly outnumber the "pro" arguements (generally posted by non-military pre-meds, med students, or nonmedical active duty types). Hmmmm . . .

#3. I agree with and will therefore re-iterate what many of the both pro- and con- posters have said: DON'T DO IT JUST FOR THE MONEY!!!!!!!!! Only join the military if you would have joined the military anyway even if you weren't going to be a doc.

#4. Financially, it's probably either a losing proposition or at best a breakeven, depending on your specialty. Sure, you won't have debt, but once you are out of residency and are an attending at some military hospital, if you are anything other than a pediatrician or shrink you will probably be paid well under 50% of what you'd make in private practice. Example: Army radiologist = $140k. Private practice radiologist = $350K and up. Go figure.

#5. I would have to say that at this time, yes, surgical training in the military is suboptimal compared to good/average civilian programs. And then you will go on active duty and likely be underutilized, letting your skills erode even further. The surgeons who post here can (and probably will) fill you in more on that.

#6. The military OWNS YOU, lock, stock and barrel. You do what they want, how they want, when they want. Goodbye autonomy.

Good luck whatever you decide . . .

X-RMD

Extremely excellent advice. That should be like a sticky for those asking questions about milmed. I would add a ton more negatives, and specially for surgical subspecialties, and GME. At this point in time, military medicine is a HUGE LOOSER. I highly recommend against it.