Questions about an ER physician in Army Special forces

[MoGhazidoc1990]

Hey there.

I have been doing a lot if research about certain careers in emergency medicine and really am interested about tacmed and ems. Most particularly in special forces.

Now I want to get this out of the way first. I am not trying to be doctor rambo. I do however have a keen interest as I said before tacmed ems and also I counterterrorism as well as teaching and most of all serving my country. The teaching part fits quite well with SF because they actually train indigenous forces how to fight and also how to sustain security. My part would be to train medics meaning SF medics as well as indigenous personel.

Also I realize that I will not be a door kicker necessarily but will be in a support role at an FOB or even in certain cases on site of a raid but only to deliver critical care. Although that may be a medics job it has been done before by docs.
Some of you may be asking yourself why I would want to do something like this. I'll try to answer this here. First off want to serve at the highest levels and also be apart of counterterrorism. Second I want serve in an elite unit as a doc for it is the pinnacle of tacmed.
Some might even ask why not just try to be a doc that is attached to a unit. The reasoning behind that is that you can see chaplains even becoming SF qualified so they can understand the hardships of a group of men. Even though that is very important for morale if a chaplain is in the unit than it makes just as much sense for a doc to do so as well to better understand the people the doctor will treat. IMO it makes you more effective to have that insight.
Here is what I know.
Yes it is possible for a MD to go through the q course although not common.
Also I know that I can be qualified as a green beret based on posts about a COL Farr here on this forum saying It is possible.


Here is my question
Does anyone know the best route to pursue this career path with the highest probability of success?

What courses or qualifications should I have prior to signing on with the army to put me in the best position for consideration for a position that I'm describing?

Does anyone know anybody or have heard of someone personally doing this and know anything about there experiences?

I should also mention that I know 3 languages urdu and punjab included and learning pashto and arabic as well.

I should also mention this that I am an img and can only join up after my residency is complete but can sign on with the army in like an "association" until I can fully take on my duties as an army doc after my residency is done. Also yes I realize that all this is contingent on whether I get a match and also on my physical fitness and ability to get into the q course.

Also want to be an ER physician which is the most deployable doc in the military
Any insight would be great and much appreciated thanks

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[Shikima]

You didn't happen to do a forum search, did you?

 

[DeadCactus]

As someone who has looked into becoming a special operations physician:

1. One of your posts is going to get closed for cross posting.
2. This has been addressed. I say this more to point you toward exploring the available information than to saw you shouldn't have posted this thread.
3. Special operations medicine for a physician is going to be more occupational health, internal medicine, and admin than tactical medicine and trauma.
4. The ability to go to schools, especially things like the Q-course or Ranger, falls in and out possibility as leadership changes. Possible but don't count on it.
5. Drop the "better understand the people I treat" line. It's bull****. You want to go because it sounds masochistically fun and prestigious; just like everyone else who wants to go. It's not like people wander around inner-city Detroit at 2:00AM to better know what their trauma patients go through. Hell, most people don't even do something as basic as lie on a backboard for 5 minutes or sit, fully dressed, in some OB/GYN stirrups in the name of empathy building.
6. Just because I'm not on a bit of a rant regarding false pretenses: Do you go to a shooting range? Have you done a tandem skydive as a civilian? Have you gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling? Do you hike? Do you camp? Everyone wants to an airborne secret squirrel and then the majority who do haven't done a single aspect of it on their own time which leads to the conclusion that they're just chasing fancy badges and berets.
7. The negative Nancy spiel aside, making it to these teams is a combination of networking, luck, and diligence. Those with prior special operations experience are going to have first dibs. The left overs are going to go to known and proven people. Once you're in the military, low hanging fruit to start in the right direction are expressing an interest, being known as a good physician, maintaining decent physical fitness, going to the Flight Surgeon course, and deploying.

 

[MoGhazidoc1990]

As someone who has looked into becoming a special operations physician:

1. One of your posts is going to get closed for cross posting.
2. This has been addressed. I say this more to point you toward exploring the available information than to saw you shouldn't have posted this thread.
3. Special operations medicine for a physician is going to be more occupational health, internal medicine, and admin than tactical medicine and trauma.
4. The ability to go to schools, especially things like the Q-course or Ranger, falls in and out possibility as leadership changes. Possible but don't count on it.
5. Drop the "better understand the people I treat" line. It's bull****. You want to go because it sounds masochistically fun and prestigious; just like everyone else who wants to go. It's not like people wander around inner-city Detroit at 2:00AM to better know what their trauma patients go through. Hell, most people don't even do something as basic as lie on a backboard for 5 minutes or sit, fully dressed, in some OB/GYN stirrups in the name of empathy building.
6. Just because I'm not on a bit of a rant regarding false pretenses: Do you go to a shooting range? Have you done a tandem skydive as a civilian? Have you gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling? Do you hike? Do you camp? Everyone wants to an airborne secret squirrel and then the majority who do haven't done a single aspect of it on their own time which leads to the conclusion that they're just chasing fancy badges and berets.
7. The negative Nancy spiel aside, making it to these teams is a combination of networking, luck, and diligence. Those with prior special operations experience are going to have first dibs. The left overs are going to go to known and proven people. Once you're in the military, low hanging fruit to start in the right direction are expressing an interest, being known as a good physician, maintaining decent physical fitness, going to the Flight Surgeon course, and deploying.

Dear sir
first off I would like to say this. this is my first day on this forum.so I was unaware that I could not cross post. I apologize for that. Sir and to be quite honest my motivations are not what you actually think they are but that is fine. Second I actually have an interest and merely thought this was a forum where I could get answers without upsetting anyone or being myself degraded. But that is also fine as I see you are a senior member. I simply wanted to ascertain the possibilities. I can't say that I disagree with you with the assessment of possible but don't count on it and I probably should have done a search but again first day on the forum and all I will.be more diligent. I would also like to mention that not everyone that goes into special operations has hiked or skydive or has gone to a shooting range before and still pursued a career in SF. But I would like to thank you for your honesty. Again sorry for cross posting.

 

[MoGhazidoc1990]

You didn't happen to do a forum search, did you?

Hey great idea

 

[HighPriest]

5. Drop the "better understand the people I treat" line. It's bull****. You want to go because it sounds masochistically fun and prestigious; just like everyone else who wants to go. It's not like people wander around inner-city Detroit at 2:00AM to better know what their trauma patients go through. Hell, most people don't even do something as basic as lie on a backboard for 5 minutes or sit, fully dressed, in some OB/GYN stirrups in the name of empathy building.

That is awesome. Thank you.

6. Just because I'm not on a bit of a rant regarding false pretenses: Do you go to a shooting range? Have you done a tandem skydive as a civilian? Have you gone SCUBA diving or snorkeling? Do you hike? Do you camp? Everyone wants to an airborne secret squirrel and then the majority who do haven't done a single aspect of it on their own time which leads to the conclusion that they're just chasing fancy badges and berets.

I've done all of those things many times and I still have no desire to become a super-secret, black-ops, special forces physician/MI-6 loaner physician. Primarily because I feel like the Army has the ability to taint anything enjoyable. If you really just want to know what your patients have to deal with on a daily basis, prior service is the way to do it.[/QUOTE]

 

[Perrotfish]

5. Drop the "better understand the people I treat" line. It's bull****. You want to go because it sounds masochistically fun and prestigious; just like everyone else who wants to go. It's not like people wander around inner-city Detroit at 2:00AM to better know what their trauma patients go through.
.

I may steal this.

 

[DocRGR]

Army HPSP > Army EM > Third year of residency you need to contact the head component docs for possible openings after you graduate.

See DeadCactus #4 post above. Opportunities for mil schooling vary by leadership. Physicians are not currently going through the Q as of last year. That's not to say the opportunity won't be back in the future. If you're a competent physicians and well liked eventually you'll have one of these opportunities if you stick around long enough.

 

[Apollyon]

so I was unaware that I could not cross post.

Don’t cross-post on the forums. Just post once. Posting a question or comment in multiple forums is annoying to other members and, if flagged, may be removed as a duplicate.

From here.

You DID see this, and you DID agree to it, because that was something that you checked the box that you did so. If you did not, then you have just black letter admitted you lied, and you have black letter evidence that you can be banned for a hard violation of the rules.

 

[sonofva]

dude, our special forces don't need physicians who are tactical experts. they need physicians who are technical experts in medicine and the best in their fields. in what world does it sound like a good idea to take a fresh residency graduate away from clinical duties for >12 months to go do non-clinical training at the q course?