Which Branch and Why?

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Sarutobi

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Hi, I am very interested in Military Medicine. Not because of the money, but because I love the idea of helping this country. I was in the young marines and rotc back in high school so I understand the lifestyle somewhat. Anywho, I was wondering if you guys could list which branch do you prefer to practice medicine and why. Also could you please list how competitive each branch is and what stats do you need before you apply.

I will make a career out of military medicine. I am not doing this for 4 years and I get out. I am actually going to do it till I can't anymore. Please don't try to persuade me not to go into military medicine as I have already made up my mind. Thank you :cool:

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Army is the branch in which you have the highest likelyhood of going straight through a residency. Navy has a high rate of sending you out for a GMO tour. Air Force and Navy tend to defer more people to civilian programs than the Army. Army also has more locations to train at.

It all depends on what you want to get out of your military career. Each branch has its own opportunities, which are discussed in the stickies and other threads.

For me branch didnt matter. I just wanted to serve my country. I applied Navy and was DQ'd at MEPS. I applied Army they sent me down to BAMC for a tour and a new physical and got in. Im glad I got in the Army. My experience thus far has been awesome (then again I am still a med student). BOLC was an awesome experience aside from the death by powerpoint. I am also doing 4 military rotations during 3rd year and 3 during 4th year.

I recently attended the Med Student Open House at Walter Reed - Bethesda last Friday and it made me even happier that I had joined the military. I had a great time that day and got to see how Military GME works at a Joint Post which was pretty cool.

Check out the stickies and do some searches. Your not going to find much positive stuff here on SDN. The stuff that is positive is probably from med students that havent experienced Military Medicine at its best and worst. Occasionally you will run across someone that is still in and enjoys it but they probably are not going to post much.
 
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Everyone's going to make a career out of the military. And go into primary care. And serve in rural areas. And do international work. And do research.

Anyway, the branch to join depends on what your particular priorities are. I joined the Army because they had the best deal at the time. If all things were even I'd be torn between the Navy and the Army.

Army because of the larger size and scope which translates into more slots and more chances to do whatever it is you want to do.

Navy because I'd love to be a physician for a Marine unit and their bases tend to be in much more palatable locations.

Air Force never appealed to me, but some people seem to love it...
 
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If you've got it all figured out then why even ask elementary questions on this site Nance?

Your time in JROTC and the "young marines" will undoubtedly prepare you well to take orders from a nurse.

Think carefully about this decision. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.
 
Heh, I couldn't do it anymore after 3 years.

If the active duty Air Force medicine lifestyle had been more like the military, I probably would have stayed in longer. I realize that's an odd, contradictory statement but it's true. "Success" as a doctor in the Air Force had very little to do with practicing medicine or being a standup military officer. I found out very early in my career that our values did not align.

So, pick a different branch.

One of my med school classmates was very happy with his residency in Hawaii via the Army.
 
Choose Navy if you are already board-certified, love the beach, and want to deploy, Army if you want a better chance of matching in a specialty of your choice, and Air Force if you want to avoid being too close to hostile fire and don't mind that kind of attitude permeating the organization.
 
Choose Navy if you are already board-certified, love the beach, and want to deploy, Army if you want a better chance of matching in a specialty of your choice, and Air Force if you want to avoid being too close to hostile fire and don't mind that kind of attitude permeating the organization.

Are you a physician?
 
If you've got it all figured out then why even ask elementary questions on this site Nance?

Your time in JROTC and the "young marines" will undoubtedly prepare you well to take orders from a nurse.

Think carefully about this decision. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.

I never had a nurse give me orders on how to do my job as a physician. Even if that were to happen and it were to compromise patient care, we as physicians have positional authority (credentialed providers) and are not bound to follow unlawful orders.
 
I never had a nurse give me orders on how to do my job as a physician. Even if that were to happen and it were to compromise patient care, we as physicians have positional authority (credentialed providers) and are not bound to follow unlawful orders.

Yeah, great line in a vacuum. And true, it's tough for your commander to force you to do medical things that you don't believe are appropriate. But there are all sorts of ways for them to retaliate...bad reviews, hosing future jobs, monkeying with your credentials, denying you leave, basically making your life a living hell. Awfully hard to prove, and you'll know it as it happens. But they can't make you order that MRI. I guess you have that...for now.
 
If still in medical school, I would go for the Army. They have the largest GME program with the most available sites and the highest likelihood of straight-through training.
 
BZ,

The non-IM, IM subspecialty or surgical specialty deployment to Germany doesn't really give you the right to disparage other services. I bet that every surgeon in the AF has deployed more than you.

G
 
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I bet all surgeons have. Even so, interservice rivalry is part of the military culture, taught from day one of indoctrination. The Air Force makes the lifestyle and lower likelihood of being deployed to an austere environment and of being seriously wounded compared to the other branches a selling point for those wanting to join the military. Their recruiting standards are also higher (e.g., higher ASVAB scores, higher college board scores for the USAFA and younger age limit) probably for those reasons.

I would also appreciate it if you not reveal FOUO info, such as the mission and personnel. Just because you know does not mean that you should let the whole world know.
 
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I bet all surgeons have. Even so, interservice rivalry is part of the military culture, taught from day one of indoctrination. The Air Force makes the lifestyle and lower likelihood of being deployed to an austere environment and of being seriously wounded compared to the other branches a selling point for those wanting to join the military. Their recruiting standards are also higher (e.g., higher ASVAB scores, higher college board scores for the USAFA and younger age limit) probably for those reasons.

I would also appreciate it if you not reveal FOUO info, such as the mission and personnel. Just because you know does not mean that you should let the whole world know.

I didn't reveal anything but you sure did. You identified your rank, current duty status, deployment location, PCS location and hinted at your specialty. I didn't want anyone to think you were someone else based on the incomplete information (theres really only one other and there is no way he would post like you, he's a senior LCDR (I think CDR select) USUHS grad). Do you really think that writing the very specific info you wrote in your post somehow was not specific enough to identify you? I didn't quote your post so it remains modifiable. Feel free to do so and then I will delete mine.

Rah Rah interservice rivalry is totally out of place in a "which branch" thread. The OP wants the facts. AF docs deploy as much as we do. This isn't a recruiting station where the ASVAB is at all relevant.
 
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Yeah, great line in a vacuum. And true, it's tough for your commander to force you to do medical things that you don't believe are appropriate. But there are all sorts of ways for them to retaliate...bad reviews, hosing future jobs, monkeying with your credentials, denying you leave, basically making your life a living hell. Awfully hard to prove, and you'll know it as it happens. But they can't make you order that MRI. I guess you have that...for now.
The Air Force strikes again.
Always a source of inspiration posts. Needless to say, go AF and be disgruntled.
 
To the OP,

At this point, without a specialty to muddy the waters, the only thing you can really look at to try to decide is the nature of each branch of service. You've already read about the GME aspects in the posts above. Past that, you just need to decide what you would like to do. Air Force will deploy you to bases in Qa-tar, Turkey, Italy, North Dakota, Kandahar, etc. Your mission will be focused around supporting pilots who fly missions. Army will send you to more forward locations, generally speaking (though currently, it seems to be less of a distinct difference between the services). Your job will be to support combat arms soldiers (infantry, armor, cav, etc). This could potentially take you much closer to combat, as a battalion surgeon manning a mobile aid station, for instance. Navy will have you on a ship, or with the Marines. On ship, you will be supporting the operations of the ship. With the Marines, you'll be doing work similar to your Army colleagues. Due to the nature of the Navy, you will have a more set schedule for being on the ship, even in peace time. So, even if peace breaks out, you will still have sea duty potentially.

These are broad generalizations and each service has its own nuances. But, if you're trying to decide between them, aside from the GME considerations, I think that examining their combat roles seems like a reasonable next step.

Then there are things like deployment length, base locations, size of force considerations, etc. Good luck.
 
I didn't reveal anything but you sure did.

You had posted my assigned mission before the edit. I don't think it makes a huge difference, but it might suggest to others that you are in my unit.
 
You had posted my assigned mission before the edit. I don't think it makes a huge difference, but it might suggest to others that you are in my unit.

Nope. Guess again. Not currently at either of the locations you identified. But, as is tradition on this site (not that you'd know), I'll be outing myself in glorious fashion here shortly.
 
I never had a nurse give me orders on how to do my job as a physician.

I've run into some ... issues ... of this nature lately.


Even if that were to happen and it were to compromise patient care, we as physicians have positional authority (credentialed providers) and are not bound to follow unlawful orders.

If only it was that simple.
 
Does rank fall under the purview of FOUO informacion?

Not sure what you mean?

If you hold a commission, you may use the rank as a title. As a Commander, I can have all of my mail addressed as such. Wouldn't, but could. But.....if I were giving a non-DoD sanctioned speech or a political speech, no I could not use it or in any way represent myself as speaking for the DoD.
 
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