Stay in or get out at the 10-14 year mark? What would you do?

[idq1i]

Someone else said it best: "I'm proud, but not happy."

So nice to be quoted

It's so hard to even consider staying given the recent trends in the MC. From the new emphasis to sign up for CCC, to battalion surgeon utilization tours for non-direct patient care specialists, to loss of CME, to the complete disconnect of clinical skills and evaluations...

Good luck to all you staying... may the cool aid be not voluminous enough to give you hyponatremia and central pontine myelinolysis after being corrected too quickly by a GMO without residency training

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Combatdoc88]

Is it easy for a military physician to transfer to the reserves after ones commitment is up? From my understanding, if you have 12 years AD, then you have to only be in the reserves for another 8 years and can start collecting your pension (50% of AD base officer pay) at age 60.

 

[MTGas2B]

Is it easy for a military physician to transfer to the reserves after ones commitment is up? From my understanding, if you have 12 years AD, then you have to only be in the reserves for another 8 years and can start collecting your pension (50% of AD base officer pay) at age 60.

In some scenarios, if you're HPSP you could retire with just four more years in the reserves.

 

[Combatdoc88]

That sounds like an awesome deal, granted I don't know the fine print and what reserve status would entail.

 

[Qurmish]

That sounds like an awesome deal, granted I don't know the fine print and what reserve status would entail.

Are you currently an HPSP scholarship recipient? You should look into doing correspondence courses to max out your retirement points if this is something that you are considering.

The difference between getting minimum of 60 (15 for membership and 45 for ADT) retirement points and maximum of 130 over four year scholarship works out to about $162 a month (or $1944 per year) at current retirement rates if you consider the point value for LTC at 20 years is 0.579 (0.579(70*4)).

https://www.hrc.army.mil/calculators/ValueOfAPoint.aspx

 

[bricktamland]

I recently completed my first stint of moonlighting. My brief taste of civilian medicine was quite palatable. Right now, I can't see many reasons to stay in.

I also looked into the VA career. Based upon my calculations, the retirement value of 20 years with the VA added to my 12 years of AD put toward FERS would be roughly equivalent to the retirement value of staying AD all the way to the 20 year mark and retiring at O-5. With the VA,the retirement payments start later, but the monthly stipend would be much higher. Thus, the VA option seems like a great alternative. I could have all the satisfaction of working with great patients (vets) like I do now, but without all the headaches of being AD (unwanted admin duties, threat of deployment, relocating, general lack of control over my life, etc etc etc). In fact, there are probably multiple GS jobs that might be worth looking into.

The IRR is also a thought, but having to drill and the risk of getting called up is less attractive to me.

 

[Qurmish]

The IRR is also a thought, but having to drill and the risk of getting called up is less attractive to me.

Just to be clear---being in the IRR (Inactive Ready Reserves) specifically means that you would not have to drill. You could get your last years in for reserve retirement by doing 105 correspondence hours per year if they let you remain in the IRR. The reactivation is a threat though.

 

[Perrotfish]

Are you currently an HPSP scholarship recipient? You should look into doing correspondence courses to max out your retirement points if this is something that you are considering.

The difference between getting minimum of 60 (15 for membership and 45 for ADT) retirement points and maximum of 130 over four year scholarship works out to about $162 a month (or $1944 per year) at current retirement rates if you consider the point value for LTC at 20 years is 0.579 (0.579(70*4)).

https://www.hrc.army.mil/calculators/ValueOfAPoint.aspx

What are correspondence courses and how do you sign up for them? I've never heard of this.

 

[Qurmish]

What are correspondence courses and how do you sign up for them? I've never heard of this.

Army:

Consolidated list of correspondence courses:
https://www.atrrs.army.mil/

Sites to complete correspondence courses:
http://www.atsc.army.mil/accp/aipdnew.asp
https://usarmy.skillport.com/skillportfe/custom/login/usarmy/login.action


Navy:


FAQ for Navy retirement points:

http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/CAREER/RESERVEPERSONNELMGMT/Pages/PointsFAQ.aspx

Information about the IRR and completing correspondence courses:
http://www.public.navy.mil/BUPERS-NPC/CAREER/RESERVEPERSONNELMGMT/IRR/Pages/default2.aspx

5. Correspondence Courses. IRR members may earn retirement points by completing correspondence courses through:

Navy Center for Personal and Professional Development online at https://www.courses.netc.navy.mil/ or Comm: 1-877-264-8583
Naval Dental School, Bethesda, Comm: (301) 319-4832 (Dental officers only)
Naval School of Health Sciences, Portsmouth, Comm: (757) 953-5042
Naval War College, Newport, online at http://www.usnwc.edu/ or Comm401) 841-2135
Courses taken via CPPD are automatically forwarded to PERS-912 and update retirement point capture records. All others will require manual submission of course completion certificates to the following address:

Retiring from the reserves is actually not a terrible idea for HPSP recipients that don't want to stay active and are willing to risk being called up from the reserves. Someone that does a straight through residency and four years of payback will leave with 2795 (365 for each active year + 60 for each year HPSP) retirement points and 11 good federal years. If they were to max out their retirement points (130 per year) for the remaining 9 they would have 3965 points when they retire and would be eligible for $27,540 a year (in today's dollars assuming they get out at O-5) and health benefits at age 60.

The pay increases for someone like the OP who will get out with more than 7 years of active service. It is likely that he would finish with with 5140 retirement points and receive $35,712 a year.

This calculator is helpful for figuring out reserve retirement information:
https://www.hrc.army.mil/Calculators/RetirementCalc.aspx

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

Thanks! I've been looking into the IRR stuff lately. Seems too good to be true. There has to be a catch, right? Antibody know of someone who actually did the IRR to completion (met retirement points)?

 

[MTGas2B]

Thanks! I've been looking into the IRR stuff lately. Seems too good to be true. There has to be a catch, right? Antibody know of someone who actually did the IRR to completion (met retirement points)?

I know a guy finishing off his last 3 or 4 years in IRR right now.

 

[J-Rad]

Good info on IRR and retirement:
Air Force
http://www.afrc.af.mil/shared/media/document/afd-080408-050.pdf
Navy
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/reservepersonnelmgmt/IRR/Pages/default2.aspx
Army
https://www.hrc.army.mil/TAGD/Earning Retirement Points

I've been pondering reserve retirement a bit lately. At the end of my ADSO I'll have about 14 years worth of service toward an AD retirement with active duty and previous reserve time. Another six years is daunting if things keep on going as they are with the current increasing austerity measures in the armed forces and MC. But, because of my 6.5 reserve years (including a 179 day EAD tour), when I am at end of ADSO I'll have over 19 years toward a reserve retirement. I got the bug to talk to a retirement counselor at Air Reserve Personnel Center and she said that they will not put up a block on someone so close to retirement and, if fact, quite a few people transfer into the reserves for relatively short periods of time to get the reserve retirement. To be an active reservist, there has to be a vacancy you can fill, but, if you go through those link, one other option, beside correspondence courses, is to be in what the Air Force calls a Participating Individual Ready Reserve. These people drill for points only. I did meet an O-5 PNP in VA who was doing this to get to retirement eligibility. Having this information is making getting out and doing at least some activity in the reserves much more appealing; possibly enough to give up the active duty retirement. While base/exchange/commissary access isn't that much of a value these days (man, I remember when you could get a pack of generic smokes for $0.90 at the exchange), retirees are eligible for Tricare Retired Reserve and TFL later. There is a monetary benefit to that as well.

 

[Perrotfish]

What's the rule for getting promoted in the reserves? How in the world do you polish a CV to make 05 when you only drill two weeks a year?

 

[MTGas2B]

What's the rule for getting promoted in the reserves? How in the world do you polish a CV to make 05 when you only drill two weeks a year?

You compete against others in the same situation. Reserve boards are separate from active duty boards.

 

[StarboardMD]

So for this IRR gig, you do 50-130 hours of correspondence courses per year, receive no pay, earn retirement time, and run the minimal-to-moderate risk of deploying? Doesn't seem like too bad of a deal.

Any reason an HPSP-er with 5 years of AD and owing 4 years IRR shouldn't get in on this? Seems like I could manage at least 50 hours of correspondence courses per year over the next 15 years or so in exchange for a nice paycheck at the end...and it wouldn't kill me to deploy once or twice over that kind of time span...

 

[Homunculus]

and it wouldn't kill me to deploy once or twice over that kind of time span...

actually, it might. not likely, but be careful tempting fate.

--your friendly neighborhood mortality facing caveman

 

[MTGas2B]

So for this IRR gig, you do 50-130 hours of correspondence courses per year, receive no pay, earn retirement time, and run the minimal-to-moderate risk of deploying? Doesn't seem like too bad of a deal.

Any reason an HPSP-er with 5 years of AD and owing 4 years IRR shouldn't get in on this? Seems like I could manage at least 50 hours of correspondence courses per year over the next 15 years or so in exchange for a nice paycheck at the end...and it wouldn't kill me to deploy once or twice over that kind of time span...

For the Navy side, there are three programs everyone getting out should know about.

1. All (not just medical) members leaving active duty are guaranteed non-deployable status in the Navy reserves for two years if they join within 6 months.

2. All former HPSP (not just Navy) in wartime critical specialties can have their HPSP years credited back towards a reserve retirement on a one to one bases if they are in the drilling reserve, up to four years. So, do drilling reserves for four years, add 8 years towards your reserve retirement. (see attachment)

3. NAVADMIN 002/12 Extra money. Wartime critical specialties can get an extra $25k per year for up to three years for joining the reserves. You can also sign up for as little as two.

One could be conservative. Join the reserves, take two years of money, then transfer to IRR four years closer to a reserve retirement and with a bit of extra cash. Saves you two years of correspondence courses.

I think if someone has at least six year of active duty they could join the reserves for four years. Then they could:
1. Sign their page 13 and complete their GI bill transfer obligation, you can fulfill the time in the selected reserves
2. Turn all of their HPSP time into retirement credit, figure six years on active plus eight now at 14, only six years of IRR to go.
3. You've collected all three years of the special pay

 

[Homunculus]

back to topic-- i am going to be in the 14 year boat when my time is up.

6 years seems small compared to what i would have gone through by then, and i have to admit the 50% base pay for waking up in the morning is a big carrot.

my wife and i have already transferred GI bill benefits (sweet) so we feel we've already kind of earned a mini carrot. the intriguing thing to me is the reserve option. i know someone currently who had i think 8-10 years in who got out and joined the reserves, so i will doublecheck with her, but it sounds like a good alternative to "throwing away" all those years.

for me, the reality is i plan on practicing for awhile. i don't plan on retiring at 50. but if i do, it would be nice to have that bump in income when i hit 60 when the reserve retirement kicks in.

as people are explaining it, if i get out at 14 i only need 6 reserve years? seems almost too easy... i'm sure there has to be some catch to it, lol. are reserve retirees on tricare for life like the AD retirees?

need to do some research, but this i think is going to come up more and more over the next few years as my generation (OIF/OEF vets) advances up the chain. the newbies don't have any idea what things were like "back in the day" and the oldsters are hanging out for their sweet retirements and no strings attached GI bill transfers. people in my situation i think either get our or parlay their utilization tours and/or deployments into fellowships or nicer duty stations. will be interesting to watch

--your friendly neighborhood cautiously reserved about the reserves caveman

 

[McCheese]

I'm glad I found this 2 year old thread... if y'all don't mind the Bump.
Different specialty and circumstances from the OP - (ENT). I'm currently pretty happy at a community MTF.
That is because of great colleagues, busy enough case load, a good crew in the office and the OR, and decent leadership, things that unfortunately can be fleeting in the Mil Med environment.
I have no interest (at least now) in taking on admin or big time leadership roles. I'm happy seeing patients and operating and very productive by current standards - at least that's what I'm told.

I will be 13 years in at the end of my ADSO. My current dilemma lies in whether to accept an FTOS fellowship - if selected in the upcoming board - effectively locking me in for the full 20 (puts me at 16 years), or decline it and get out ASAP (1 tour away). Haven't really thought about the Reserves, and not opposed to it based on what I've read. I've gone over the pros and cons of each option - financial, lifestyle, locations, etc. - over multiple times along with my wife and remain undecided.

Of course - not being pre-selected for fellowship will make the decision a lot easier, but while we wait, appreciate any insight / thoughts from those who have had to make a similar decision and hopefully get what was a good discussion in 2013 going again. Thanks in advance!

 

[Chonal Atresia]

I'm glad I found this 2 year old thread... if y'all don't mind the Bump.
Different specialty and circumstances from the OP - (ENT). I'm currently pretty happy at a community MTF.
That is because of great colleagues, busy enough case load, a good crew in the office and the OR, and decent leadership, things that unfortunately can be fleeting in the Mil Med environment.
I have no interest (at least now) in taking on admin or big time leadership roles. I'm happy seeing patients and operating and very productive by current standards - at least that's what I'm told.

I will be 13 years in at the end of my ADSO. My current dilemma lies in whether to accept an FTOS fellowship - if selected in the upcoming board - effectively locking me in for the full 20 (puts me at 16 years), or decline it and get out ASAP (1 tour away). Haven't really thought about the Reserves, and not opposed to it based on what I've read. I've gone over the pros and cons of each option - financial, lifestyle, locations, etc. - over multiple times along with my wife and remain undecided.

Of course - not being pre-selected for fellowship will make the decision a lot easier, but while we wait, appreciate any insight / thoughts from those who have had to make a similar decision and hopefully get what was a good discussion in 2013 going again. Thanks in advance!

I'm ENT and left AD last year after 12 years (5 years residency and 7 years payback for USUHS).

I had no desire to do a fellowship so the decision was easy for me.

I will end up making 3x what I did my last year on active duty INCLUDING moonlighting income. The harder I decide to work, the more money I make. I also take less call (q6), do no computer training, have no risk of brigade surgeons tours, deployments, etc. I don't have to live in a s$&@hole anymore or move when the army tells me to. My boss is not a nurse and I don't need an E3 to inspect my car and deny me leave before I take a vacation.

Questions?

 

[HighPriest]

It depends upon how much you want that fellowship, what the fellowship is, and what branch of service. Keep in mind that if you do a fellowship, there's a strong change they're not going to keep you at your small MTF. Where you go will be variable, as will the circumstances in which you find yourself. The question is: is the additional pay during fellowship worth the additional ADSO time, and the lower pay after your complete your fellowship? The other thing to consider is: will you actually practice your trade after fellowship? If you're doing HN there's a good chance that you'll suffer from skill rot even at a larger MTF - I can't think of a single military program who's HN oncology numbers come close to a tertiary civilian center. If you think you might do free flaps for 4-5 years and then stop (like a lot of guys do), then you have to ask yourself whether you want to maximize that time in the civilian sector or just do a few here and there at a MEDCEN. Obviously, that's just the HN fellowship example, but the algorithm is the same for everything else - it's just that we get more sinusitis and busted faces than we do cancer due to our patient pop.

MILMED experience is highly variable, as you know. Some people get sweet spots and the training they want and they love life, others don't. If you truly love the military, and not just your current station, then stay in. If your thought process is that things aren't that bad where you are, but you'd be unhappy if they were a $#itload worse, then you should bail. Because they can always get worse. It's like I always say: So long as the only thing I ever expect from the Army is disappointment, I'm never truly disappointed.

 

[TheEarDoc]

Thanks for the info. I genuinely love my work as a radiologist, particularly in the Navy. I like the people I work with and the sense of comaraderie we have in the military. It's the emerging admin burden that is weighing me down. All the other things like the senseless online training, random drug tests, etc, are annoying too, but are more tolerable. I suppose more than anything, I especially don't like the feeling of guilt I have about wanting to avoid these high-end leadership positions. I do believe there is truth to the fact that in the military, you're an officer first, and physician second. It makes sense to me that this is what the Navy expects as you gain experience and rank. It's probably the pangs of cognitive dissonance I am experiencing, in that I wish it was the reverse (physician before officer).

I would be careful of the VA system. Trust me we all have tons of administrative BS to wade through on top of an overload of patient care. Constant TMS trainings for idiotic stuff that has nothing to do with any of our jobs. Constantly be pressured to see more patients and do more administrative work. I am currently on 3 committees for the hospital, supervising 2 full time students, performing the duties of our assistant that retired while they are hiring a replacement, and constantly being badgered to see more walk-ins and add ons. The grass ain't always greener.

 

[Gastrapathy]

2 years later, no regrets.

 

[Yellowstone]

I got out at 12 years. It's been 20 months now and feels great. More pay for fewer hours and much less BS. I stayed SELRES but might drop to IRR next year. I really don't want to deploy again, but I also don't want to drop it all so close to the finish line for a pension. Plus the medical benefits are great in SELRES if you don't have an employed position.

 

[haujun]

It is common trend to see highly paid IM sub specialist (GI, Card) and other highly paid speciality (ENT, Rad, Opth etc) to get out around 10-12 years of service. Those who stay beyond those years tend to love the intangible benefits of staying in the military who are usually prior service or ROTC/USUHS in lower paid specialities comfortable in administrative duties away from patient care. Those who command higher salary outside find variety reasons to leave. I think if you get annoyed by those things you mentioned and you cannot see yourself handling additional administrative or even operational duties to climb the rank perhaps it is time to leave the service. People have different reasons for leaving the military service and place higher importance in stability and would like to avoid another deployment etc. I know a friend who left after serving 12 years and took a job as oncology outside. He told me that higher salary in the civilian sector with smart investment will allow him to come out of ahead compared to staying in the military.

 

[bricktamland]

Op here. It’s interesting to revisit this thread a few years later. I have a year left in my obligation and I will be getting out at 12+ years. I have a civilian fellowship arranged next year. It’s a top tier program which I would be insane to pass up. Even if I wanted to stay in—and I certainly did consider it, I looked into it, and there is zero chance for either full-time outservice (FTOS) or deferment. Per the specialty leader, the Navy doesn’t really care to have very many subspecialty trained radiologists.

That’s fine. What it comes down to is this: I want to be the best doctor I can be, while the Navy wants me to be the best officer/administrator I can be. And the Navy makes it darn near impossible to do both. Being honest with myself, my loyalty is being a physician first and an officer second.

The Navy rolls out the red carpet for MBA training yet puts up the Berlin wall to obtain CME—let alone fellowship training. My fitness reports are scored on how many leadership roles I take on and how I successfully I massage some metrics numbers, not how well I perform in my clinical role, taking care of actual patients. Yet my own interests are fundamentally opposite—I enjoy being a physician more than anything, and am much less fond of being a hospital administrator.

Really, that is the key point, my identity is as a physician first, and officer second. The Navy demands the opposite. Everything else—the lower pay, the endless BS military training, the constant pee tests, the deployments, the lack of stability, etc.—I might be able to tolerate if I could just be left alone to pursue medicine and not be forced into a hospital admin track.

The situation isn’t all sunshine and tulips in the civilian world, I grant you. I moonlight with a private practice group which is currently dysfunctional to a severe degree. The two founding partners are actually in the midst of a bitter law suit against each other. The politics and manipulation going within the group is awful. Sadly, I still feel like these guys give me less BS than the Navy does. Furthermore, within this private practice group, I'm actually highly valued for being a hard-working physician who generates quality results.

All in all, I’m very proud to have served. I’ve worked alongside some incredible people. I received outstanding training. But the Navy and I have reached a critical fork in the road; our values have begun to diverge. We are no longer “simpatico.”

 

[Gastrapathy]

Op here. It’s interesting to revisit this thread a few years later. I have a year left in my obligation and I will be getting out at 12+ years.

Congrats on fellowship.

You probably have a fair chunk of leave built up. Use every day of it. The financial benefit of selling back leave is small and the psychological benefit of taking off every Tuesday (or whatever) is pretty nice. Unless you know your current CO will be in place, don't count on the same policy existing for terminal leave. I'd plan for no more than 2 weeks of terminal and use up the rest.

 

[McCheese]

OP - Congrats and thanks again for the initial posting and the update - I found your thoughts very similar to mine, except the FTOS fellowship is a possibility for me (we'll see what happens next month). Sounds like you would have gone either way if that was the case?

 

[bricktamland]

FTOS, were it an option, would have been tough for me to turn down—especially since the timing was such that I could have taken advantage of the fellowship loophole—and that’s a pretty sweet deal.

A straight up deferment, well. . . . that, I probably would have declined. The more I moonlight, the more I know I’d be much happier in a civilian atmosphere—it’s a different set of peccadillos, but one that I feel more at home with.

I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. On my fit reps, the standard goal that I write down is that I want to become “department head at a major MTF.” But that’s a complete lie. That’s the last thing I want to do. After 13 years of college, med school, internship, and residency, I’ve finally become what I set out to achieve, I’m a board certified physician. Isn’t that enough? It took 13 years! I want to enjoy this for a little while.

I’m tired of feeling like I’m being coerced into these admin roles, and simultaneously I don’t like feeling guilty for wanting to eschew them. Add that to all the myriad of other little annoyances, the pee tests, PRTs, on-line training on “ergonomics,” the overzealous nurses pushing HEDIS, CHCS, and on and on.. . . it’s just not an enjoyable way to practice medicine. The one major positive is that I work with some incredible Corpsmen and other officers, and those folks help mitigate the pain.

On the flip side, the private practice group I moonlight with has its issues, but they really value what I bring to the table as a physician. It feels good. They appreciate my skills and work ethic and I’m remunerated accordingly. I hate to say it, but at the civilian hospitals, I like going to the doctor’s lounge and helping myself to the free snacks!

 

[bricktamland]

Congrats on fellowship.

You probably have a fair chunk of leave built up. Use every day of it. The financial benefit of selling back leave is small and the psychological benefit of taking off every Tuesday (or whatever) is pretty nice. Unless you know your current CO will be in place, don't count on the same policy existing for terminal leave. I'd plan for no more than 2 weeks of terminal and use up the rest.

Thanks. Yes, the current leadership is not so generous with terminal leave, and I've got about 70 days to burn. . . . and I don't plan on selling it back.

 

[Homunculus]

I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. On my fit reps, the standard goal that I write down is that I want to become “department head at a major MTF.” But that’s a complete lie. That’s the last thing I want to do. After 13 years of college, med school, internship, and residency, I’ve finally become what I set out to achieve, I’m a board certified physician. Isn’t that enough? It took 13 years! I want to enjoy this for a little while.

I’m tired of feeling like I’m being coerced into these admin roles, and simultaneously I don’t like feeling guilty for wanting to eschew them. Add that to all the myriad of other little annoyances, the pee tests, PRTs, on-line training on “ergonomics,” the overzealous nurses pushing HEDIS, CHCS, and on and on.. . . it’s just not an enjoyable way to practice medicine. The one major positive is that I work with some incredible Corpsmen and other officers, and those folks help mitigate the pain.

this needs to be engraved on the entrance to the forum, lol. hits very close to the heart of the matter-- even to the "kool aid" drinkers we all probably know.

for my own update-- I'm now almost 11.5 years in, 2.5 to go. I still likely have 1 more deployment ahead of me, then will be The Decision. at 14 if I do get out I'd like to transition to the reserves, though admittedly have done pretty much nil research into it other than what I think I read a couple of months ago. from what I recall you are guaranteed no deployment your first 2 years, and I think is a minimum 6 year commitment. at some point in the next year I'll make a more serious look into it. I have some colleagues who have done it (though not this late in their career) and they don't seem any worse for wear. just enough exposure to remind them why they got out, but still building toward the payoff at 60.

how bad is it when 6 years seem like too much to deal with for the 20 year AD retirement? I keep hoping some shift will occur to bring things back into some kind of balance but don't see any light at the end of the tunnel yet.

--your friendly neighborhood may end up with an accidental career caveman

 

[Yellowstone]

at 14 if I do get out I'd like to transition to the reserves, though admittedly have done pretty much nil research into it other than what I think I read a couple of months ago. from what I recall you are guaranteed no deployment your first 2 years, and I think is a minimum 6 year commitment. at some point in the next year I'll make a more serious look into it. I have some colleagues who have done it (though not this late in their career) and they don't seem any worse for wear. just enough exposure to remind them why they got out, but still building toward the payoff at 60.

No deployments first two years if you transition directly from active component. Of course you can always volunteer if you want, but at least for now there is not much available. No minimum time commitment unless you sign for a bonus. I believe bonuses are up to three years in length, and vary depending on specialty and branch and demand/staffing. The Navy has what's termed a Career Transition Officer to guide you through a potential transition to the reserves, and I found this very helpful. Once your release from active duty is approved, they will contact you.

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

While my situation wasn't the same (I got out at 7 years) I just want to say a couple of things.

1) Bricktamland hits the nail on the head about the Navy wanting officers not doctors
2) coming back here periodically to read these threads reminds me of just how bad it was and just how happy I am to be a civilian (~18 months into my new job). People respect my hard work. They're thankful that I do it. They defer t one when it comes to clinical judgment. The hospital only runs if doctors make money so they try and maximize our ability to do that.

It was mind-boggling. I had a situation where one of my partners was the same FTE as me but made substantially more (she got there through leveraging another job offer). I sat down with my bosses and said, "I do the same work for less money, doesn't seem fair. I like this place and don't want to leverage other offers, that's just not my style" they said to give them a couple of weeks. They discussed came back to me and gave me a sizable raise to make me equal to my partner. That easy. That respected. That practical. After half a dozen years in the military, you forget what common sense looks like and how refreshing it can be.

I've NEVER met anybody who said they wish they would've stayed in longer. Never.

 

[a1qwerty55]

As a newly minted retiree the retirement is kinda lame. After taxes as an O6 I take home $4200, chump change honestly as I can make that in a couple of shifts. I have TRICARE which so far is inferior to my private employer sponsored policy. The rub is in today's environment most of you will retire as O5's significantly reducing retirement pay. I'm not complaining but many health systems including both I had offers with have much more generous plans. I don't regret staying in but had I not been obligated I would/should have gotten out.