Would you do military medicine again?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
M

MUSC Hopeful

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
  1. Pre-Medical
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
To all you current HPSP people out there: if you could go back in time, would you sign up for HPSP again? Is the complete payment of your medical education worth 4 years of military service? Why or why not?
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
To all you current HPSP people out there: if you could go back in time, would you sign up for HPSP again? Is the complete payment of your medical education worth 4 years of military service? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

You actually want to ask former HPSP students, not current for a better perspective. Yes, have been in 14 years. Still happy.
 
Yes, you are correct. Former HPSP students. My bad.
 
Tough question. I honestly don't know. (useful post, I know)
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
To all you current HPSP people out there: if you could go back in time, would you sign up for HPSP again? Is the complete payment of your medical education worth 4 years of military service? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

Probably not. The military's commitment to timely residency training wasn't then and isn't now what it ought to be. HPSP has been used primarily as a feedstock for filling GMO billets with quality residency training being at best a distant second priority, and that fact has not changed. The only reason the services are concerned at all at this point is that they have exhausted all the goodwill that once brought high quality candidates into the medical corps. They can't get enough new accessions of any quality to meet the need for GMOs, so they are feeding on residency graduates, some of whom have already been GMOs. The scholarships are not competitive to obtain. It is really a pathetic situation, all the worse since it was forseeable.
 
Last edited:
From a financial perspective alone, should you choose a non-primary care field, you will be several hundred thousand dollars behind where you would be in the civilian world. As a USUHS grad, I will probably be closer to $1 million in the hole (at a difference of about $150-200k per year).

When you add to this the suffocating bureacracy, the downward spiral of case volume with associated skill atrophy, the ever-present issue of deployments, the challenge of living in undesirable places far from family support, the celebration of incompetent and lazy senior physicians, the general disrespect for physicians and the constant conflict between officer and physician priorities, it is a pretty miserable envirnonment in which to work.

You are a civilian. Most of active duty docs want to be what you are. Do yourself a favor and take out the loans. You will be happy you did in the long run, and again, should you decide you still want to do the military down the road after you have finished your training, they will ALWAYS take you.
 
Military medicine is in a deplorable state, and getting worse. Having access to this forum would have made my decision not to join, or at least contact a large number of active duty physicians to see how it was. If you want to practice medicine, stay away from milmed.
 
Nope. Nuff said.
 
No
 
From a financial perspective alone, should you choose a non-primary care field, you will be several hundred thousand dollars behind where you would be in the civilian world. As a USUHS grad, I will probably be closer to $1 million in the hole (at a difference of about $150-200k per year).
Click to expand...
Don't entirely agree. My numbers, not even factoring in interest, have me coming out approximately even for lower paying non-primary care fields like path and EM, and way ahead for primary care.

Assuming:

1) No GMO (good reason to choose Army unless you feel really drawn to another service)

2) Expensive private school

3) Residency short enough that it doesn't increase your obligation.

I'm current HPSP, so I can't speak for culture and lifestyle and such, but you shouldn't need to be active duty to run the numbers.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
BigNavyPedsGuy said:
Tough question. I honestly don't know. (useful post, I know)
Click to expand...

Do to the negativity, I'll go into some of the positives that I've gotten from my experience.
The Good:
-I was at a state school in a state that I REALLY did not want to stay in for the rest of my career/life. There was no way that I could afford the cost of living shift from the fly-over state to a place like San Diego without the Navy housing allowance.
-I still feel that the residency program I was at (and will hopefully return to) is a great program with training as good as anybody elses in the field of pediatrics.
-I have several unique experiences that I wouldn't have had opportunity for otherwise.
-I got a pretty sweet GMO billet

The Not-So-Good:
-I'm doing an involuntary GMO tour and practicing medicine that is nothing like the career that I want.
-I want to sub-specialize in pediatric infectious disease - a fairly non-competitive fellowship. The Navy won't let me. They've only let 3 people do it in the last 18 years!

It's easy for me to rail against the bad. But I honestly can't picture what my life would be like if I hadn't signed up. My life all in all is pretty good, so the decision to sign up couldn't have been all bad.

My 2 cents.
 
Jury is still out, although the rumor is that the few holdouts are getting hammered pretty hard by the majority against.
 
I think my military medicine experience was in the minority. I got the residency I wanted without a GMO tour and a professionally challenging billet. If I was absolutely guaranteed to repeat the same exact path, I would probably do it.

Here are my main gripes:

1. Military medicine utilizes non-residency trained physicians in independent settings. Despite assurances, no doctrinal changes have been implemented to change the policy.
2. Military medicine is not really a physician run organization. Non-physicians can utilize their rank to cross professional boundaries and dictate clinical care.
3. The main emphasis of the business culture of military medicine is RVUs. There is so much focus on workload output that the working environment is sometimes micromanaging or malignant.
4. AHLTA. Instead of utilizing the VA's successful and highly evolved VISTA electronic medical records system, the DoD created its own system that continues to have widely publicized problems.
5. Concerns about the direction the organization is going in when physician contractors are being paid triple or quadruple uniformed physician salaries for different work standards.
6. Senior leadership makes statements like "I'd rather buy bombs and guns than pay for medical care".
 
Last edited:
Perrotfish said:
Don't entirely agree. My numbers, not even factoring in interest, have me coming out approximately even for lower paying non-primary care fields like path and EM, and way ahead for primary care.
Click to expand...
I agree with Perrotfish about running your own numbers. I ran the numbers and found that going from a cheaper state school and into EM, HSPS would not have been cost effective. So run your own numbers with your own assumptions, as two people will get two very different answers depending on what their assumptions are.
Perrotfish said:
Assuming:

1) No GMO (good reason to choose Army unless you feel really drawn to another service)
Click to expand...
Just want to point out that 25% of Army folks went into GMO tours as of the last match, according to the other thread on the subject. Granted, it's much better odds than Navy, where you're prety much guaranteed a GMO tour for competitive specialties. But 25% is nothing to dismiss, especially when it will obligate you to extra years of your life and a small fortune.

Whether or not you get to do straight through training is something impossible to predict when you're looking at the scholarship, as your chances are incredilby variable from year-to-year. Whether or not you have to do a GMO tour ends up costing between $100-$300K, depending on specialty.

But if you're considering the HPSP scholarship, do not believe that the Army doesn't do GMO tours. Several posters on SDN are doing just that. Your odds of doing one are significantly less in the Army, but doing one can cost you six figures, so caveat emptor.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I'd do it again. I've had a lot of job satisfaction, and in 5-6 years it's hasta la vista baby with retirement, healthcare and experiences which make me very marketable in my specialty.
 
From a purely financial and education standpoint the answer is no. Navy HPSP delays your education and as has been stated if you choose any field other than PC you loose out in the financial situation as well.

Beyond the education/financial stand point it is much harder to answer. I was a GMO with the infantry out of Lejeune. I am glad I served in OEF/OIF. I am a bit Jaded about some things I saw over there but all in all I am glad to have served with some great guys and wouldnt change any of that.
 
OK, the majority opinion seems to be no. So you all advocate that going into 200K+ worth of debt to pay for school is better than HPSP, if you're going into a non-primary care specialty?

Here is my line of thinking. I am interested in HPSP in order to avoid all of that debt from school. The way I see it, if I do HPSP, I get paid approximately 25K per year in school (instead of going into 200K+ worth of debt), and spend 4 years in the AF after residency debt free. If I don't do HPSP, I would probably be spending at least 4+ years paying off the debt right? Tell me what you all think.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
What specialty do you want to go into?
 
I've worked with some good people and done a few worthwhile things, but they cannot possibly make up for the personal and professional setbacks related to my time in the AF.

I would note, however, that at the time I signed up (1992) HPSP looked like a great deal. This was pre-Tricare, pre-GWOT, when the AF maintained a very robust medical system with several big medical centers, excellent training programs and much better practice opportunities.

And yes, I would recommend that you go 200K in debt, because it really is not that oppressive. And if you actually are that financially strapped, there are other options, including joining the military later on, which don't limit your career and your life nearly so much. I seriously underestimated the value of my freedom--to train, live, and practice where and how I want.
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
OK, the majority opinion seems to be no. So you all advocate that going into 200K+ worth of debt to pay for school is better than HPSP, if you're going into a non-primary care specialty?
Click to expand...
One of the pretty much universal pieces of advice you'll hear on SDN is do not take HPSP for the money.

Graduating med school debt free is great, but the folks happiest with their decision had a drive to become military officers and serve their country with HPSP as a nice incentive. I don't know many (any?) who took HPSP and went into the military for a long length of time solely for the scholarship who ended up happy.

As for the money, you need to sit down and crunch your own numbers. But using what you say, and figuring on a $200K scholarship plus $25K/year, that comes to a total of $300K. Trying to pay that off that debt in four years would be about $92K/year. Is the difference in pay between what the military would pay and the civilian world would pay over four years equal to $92K? For some specialties, yes, for others, no.

Ask yourself other questions: Is the residency training you'd get in the military equitable in quality to the residency training options you'd have in the civilian world for your specialty? What are the odds that you would have to do a GMO tour before training in your specialty (if it's non-primary care, the odds went up)? How much does the idea of having little say in where you live, who you work for, where you work, the hours you work, etc. bother you? Lots of little things.

If you want to join the military and serve your country, HPSP is a great way to pay off medical school. If you want a way to pay off medical school, serving your country can be a costly way to do it.
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
OK, the majority opinion seems to be no. So you all advocate that going into 200K+ worth of debt to pay for school is better than HPSP, if you're going into a non-primary care specialty?

Here is my line of thinking. I am interested in HPSP in order to avoid all of that debt from school. The way I see it, if I do HPSP, I get paid approximately 25K per year in school (instead of going into 200K+ worth of debt), and spend 4 years in the AF after residency debt free. If I don't do HPSP, I would probably be spending at least 4+ years paying off the debt right? Tell me what you all think.
Click to expand...

if youre comfortable with doing 4 years of GMO and delaying your residency and training by 4 years then i think its a personal choice - i personally dont like being in debt and would love a clean slate in 4 years after internship and i am/was considering doing something along the lines of what you propose. (full disclosure: i am NOT a military physician nor have I taken HPSP (yet)).
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
To all you current HPSP people out there: if you could go back in time, would you sign up for HPSP again? Is the complete payment of your medical education worth 4 years of military service? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

Would I do it over again? Yes. Then again, I came into the Navy in the late 90s. Had a great experience at USUHS, very positive intern year at Bethesda, enjoyed a non-medically-challenging but personally-&-professionally-rewarding GMO tour with the Marines, and am now in my 3rd/final year of an anesthesiology residency at a program I like very much. The Navy hasn't been all unicorns and butterflies, but I've been happy and satisfied thus far.

But you're a premed, so what you're really asking is what we think the military will be like in 5-10 years when you're done with med school and in a military residency. I left my crystal ball in my other set of scrubs, so I can't predict what another 5-10 years of outsourcing, contracting, deferment, and Tricare will do to residency opportunities in the military. Suffice it to say that I'm uncomfortable thinking about it, though.
 
BigNavyPedsGuy said:
Do to the negativity, I'll go into some of the positives that I've gotten from my experience.
The Good:
-I was at a state school in a state that I REALLY did not want to stay in for the rest of my career/life. There was no way that I could afford the cost of living shift from the fly-over state to a place like San Diego without the Navy housing allowance.
-I still feel that the residency program I was at (and will hopefully return to) is a great program with training as good as anybody elses in the field of pediatrics.
-I have several unique experiences that I wouldn't have had opportunity for otherwise.
-I got a pretty sweet GMO billet

The Not-So-Good:
-I'm doing an involuntary GMO tour and practicing medicine that is nothing like the career that I want.
-I want to sub-specialize in pediatric infectious disease - a fairly non-competitive fellowship. The Navy won't let me. They've only let 3 people do it in the last 18 years!

It's easy for me to rail against the bad. But I honestly can't picture what my life would be like if I hadn't signed up. My life all in all is pretty good, so the decision to sign up couldn't have been all bad.

My 2 cents.
Click to expand...

! I had you pegged for being ANGRY and hating milmed. This surprised me in a good way. My whole life I've always had to take the bad with the good, so the fact that you have been able to do that with your choice in milmed even after a GMO tour surprises me and impresses me in a big way. Maybe not what you intended... but thanks for your input.
 
MUSC Hopeful said:
To all you current HPSP people out there: if you could go back in time, would you sign up for HPSP again? Is the complete payment of your medical education worth 4 years of military service? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

HELL No.
Going from a large MTF to the operational side I have discovered that MilMed is even more flawed than I previously thought. I find myself wishing for the days of kicking HNs off computers so I could write notes on Essentris.

I would much rather have the 275k in debt that my friends and classmates have than be here.
 
If I was being honest with myself I would probably not do HPSP if I had to make the decision over again.

I was prior enlisted reserve so I was no stranger to the military; however, being in my 4th year of medical school and seeing all the other opportunities out there I would love to have more options.

I really want to do plastics, but the Army doesn't put much worth into plastics in general. I will most likely end up doing a general surgery residency for the military and then hopefully be fortunate enough to talk the Army into letting me do a plastics fellowship.
 
No.

Financially came out way behind (EM, cheap state school, could have refinanced ~70K of debt at 1.9% for 30 years like my classmates)

Professionally came out way behind (not seeing sick patients, have to moonlight to try to keep skills up)

Location wise came out way behind (really don't like living where the military likes me to live)

Cool experiences came out way behind (missed out on more than I've had in the military)

Deployments came out way behind (expected 1 3 month deployment in 4 years, looking at probably closer to 2 6 month deployments in 4 years)

CBT/military BS hassle came out way, way, way behind.

It's a great opportunity to serve my country though, and a great (albeit not sick) population to serve.

2 years down 2 years to go.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
So it appears that the vast majority would not do MILITARY MEDICINE again...

That said, would you have chosen MEDICINE again as a career or something different (dentistry, real estate, intelligence officer, etc.) if you had the chance?
 
blackajack said:
So it appears that the vast majority would not do MILITARY MEDICINE again...

That said, would you have chosen MEDICINE again as a career or something different (dentistry, real estate, intelligence officer, etc.) if you had the chance?
Click to expand...

Yes, Yes, Yes! I would much rather get up and go to work every day where my job is taking care of sick kids and saving their lives than getting up trying to make the big sale or merger. It's not even close for me. Medicine was definitely the right choice.
 
blackajack said:
So it appears that the vast majority would not do MILITARY MEDICINE again...

That said, would you have chosen MEDICINE again as a career or something different (dentistry, real estate, intelligence officer, etc.) if you had the chance?
Click to expand...

Medicine, absolutely.

Anything military, F--- NO!
 
For purely financial reasons, Military Medicine is NOT a good option. But the reason I chose the military route is because I felt an overwhelming obligation to give back to this country. This country has been able to give my parents (both immigrants with little more than high school education) the freedom to work and climb up the socioeconomic ladder. It has given me the chance to get a great education, attend an awesome college, and finally obtain my doctorate in medicine.

They offered to pay my way through medical school, which by the way, was not cheap!

And for all this, all I have to do is give them a minimum of 4 years of my life. That is all fine with me. Granted, military medicine and now my current position as a GMO with the Marines has not been all the glamor that I had expected. Nonetheless, I would still do the military route again if only to serve my country. I am proud to be deployed to Iraq now in support of OIF. It's something I can always take with me in the future, whatever I choose to do in my medical career down the line.

Yes, there is a significant amount of BS in the military, including Navy Medicine. I didn't get my choice in terms of residency training, where I live, where I work, and when/where I deploy. I miss my family being out here. But that's what America means when they thank you for the sacrifices you make.
 
generalks said:
For purely financial reasons, Military Medicine is NOT a good option. But the reason I chose the military route is because I felt an overwhelming obligation to give back to this country...
Click to expand...

Do you feel like reform is needed in the military medical system?
 
Until last year I would have said yes. But now, No No No Fing way.
 
hey you pre-meds out there thinking about military medicine:

Please don't get discouraged from the comments above. Look, life is all about how you frame things. Nothing is all that great . . .and nothing is all that bad.

If you really wanna know what military med is like, get off this forum and go talk to some actual military docs (in person!).

The ones who have positive things to say are probably not on this forum, b/c they're off doing great things. Unfortunatley, the disgruntled ones tend to b!tch the loudest (and that goes for all walks of life).

My bet is that most of the people complaining here have always been complainers . . you know the type . . .they're the ones who complained through high school, complained through college, complained through med school, complained through training . . . .

Now having said that, there are some valid reasons NOT to join the military (deploying, being in harms way, moving). Other than that, the rest of the complaints you see here are not unique to the military: military medicine is too bureaucratic (a civilian hospitla, HMO or PPO can also be a bureaucratic mess), skills atrophy (not necessarily true if you're at a large MTF, and may also be the case in a civilian hospital, especially if you're not practicing in a metropolitan part of the country), you get bossed around by non-physician officers b/c they outrank you (could also happen in the civilian world, where MBAs and JDs are taking over hospital operations!).

Anyway, in making your decision, focus on the military-specific qualities of life, that differentiate it from the civilian world. AND GET OFF THIS FORUM and talk to some real military docs in person . . . you'll be pleasantly surprised to find better experiences
 
Skill atrophy happens in the military. You DO NOT see the sick patients.
There was a focused movement away from taking care of the over 65 crowd. Hence much less disease. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Take the recruiter's comments above with a VERY large grain of salt.
 
crazybrancato said:
hey you pre-meds out there thinking about military medicine:

Please don't get discouraged from the comments above. Look, life is all about how you frame things. Nothing is all that great . . .and nothing is all that bad.

If you really wanna know what military med is like, get off this forum and go talk to some actual military docs (in person!).

The ones who have positive things to say are probably not on this forum, b/c they're off doing great things. Unfortunatley, the disgruntled ones tend to b!tch the loudest (and that goes for all walks of life).

My bet is that most of the people complaining here have always been complainers . . you know the type . . .they're the ones who complained through high school, complained through college, complained through med school, complained through training . . . .

Now having said that, there are some valid reasons NOT to join the military (deploying, being in harms way, moving). Other than that, the rest of the complaints you see here are not unique to the military: military medicine is too bureaucratic (a civilian hospitla, HMO or PPO can also be a bureaucratic mess), skills atrophy (not necessarily true if you're at a large MTF, and may also be the case in a civilian hospital, especially if you're not practicing in a metropolitan part of the country), you get bossed around by non-physician officers b/c they outrank you (could also happen in the civilian world, where MBAs and JDs are taking over hospital operations!).

Anyway, in making your decision, focus on the military-specific qualities of life, that differentiate it from the civilian world. AND GET OFF THIS FORUM and talk to some real military docs in person . . . you'll be pleasantly surprised to find better experiences
Click to expand...

I would be willing to bet that crazybrancato poster hasn't done a GMO.

i want out (of IRR)
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
crazybrancato said:
If you really wanna know what military med is like, get off this forum and go talk to some actual military docs (in person!).

My bet is that most of the people complaining here have always been complainers . . you know the type . . .they're the ones who complained through high school, complained through college, complained through med school, complained through training . . . .

Now having said that, there are some valid reasons NOT to join the military (deploying, being in harms way, moving). Other than that, the rest of the complaints you see here are not unique to the military:

AND GET OFF THIS FORUM and talk to some real military docs in person . . . you'll be pleasantly surprised to find better experiences
Click to expand...

Also, all you pre-meds, keep in mind that crazybrancato isn't involved in any way shape or form with military medicine. He is a military officer who "is afraid he doesn't pull rank enough" and is applying to get into USUHS. You decide whether that is enough experience to suggest that those who complain here are just whiners.

I have spent over 40 hours over the last month putting together folders just to document all the silly training that the military is making my doctors get. You wouldn't believe the amount of time actually wasted doing the "training."

Crazybrancato might even be surprised to learn that there are an awful lot of "real military docs" on this forum, not just pre-meds. Yes, real military docs who put on real military uniforms each morning, drive through the real gate onto the real military base and walk into the real hospital where they really spend their time doing useless CBTs and other admin garbage while their clinical skills wilt on the vine. And if you think they're wilting badly now, wait until they are deployed to a place where they don't use them at all.

There are a lot of reasons NOT to join the military that have absolutely nothing to do with deployments, being in harm's way, and moving. Let's see if I can come up with 10 in 30 seconds (I type fast.)

1) CBTs
2) Annual SARC training
3) Skill atrophy
4) Poorly trained nurses
5) Supervision by nurses
6) Recalls
7) 4 hour waits to get an ID card
8) Gas mask fit testers who are only open 4 hours a week
9) Squadron PT- (If getting my heart rate up to 90 is a work-out, then I understand why the AF has a weight problem.)
10) GMO tours and the military match

Remind me again which of those I would have to deal with in the civilian world?
 
Stay away from Military Medicine. I am 6 months into private practice after spending 16 long years in the Navy, so my memory is fresh.

Would I do HPSP again? F*%K NO!!:meanie:

PM me if you want more information.
 
ActiveDutyMD said:
"is afraid he doesn't pull rank enough"
Click to expand...

Awwe, shucks, you did your homework on me. Great, thanks. You forgot another bad thing about military docs:

11) spend too much time on this forum

Look, you bring up some valid things . . .and point taken, there are more reasons not to join the military (I was just trying to be brief).

From my personal experience (and that's really what this forum is, just a bunch of peole spouting off their personal thoughts), from talking with military docs, the majority of them seemed to be happy with their decision, all things considered. Now that's not to say they're bouncing off walls (they have their complaints, no doubt, and they're valid), but overall they said they'd do it again. I wish more of them would log on here.

A recruiter??? How dare you . . . wow, maybe I should consider a career change.
 
1) CBTs - Many civilian hospitals are using CBTs now (computer-based training) for training on sexual harassment, safety, etc . It's just too easy. In fact, truth be told, the civilian world is way ahead of the military in its usage of CBTs!

2) Annual SARC training - not sure what SARC is, but I'll give this one to you.

3) Skill atrophy - hear this complaint from many civilian docs too (except it's about the respective towns they live in, or clinics they work at).

4) Poorly trained nurses - all over the country, aka the new stories you here about nurses shooting up kids with ridiculous doses of heparin

5) Supervision by nurses - seasoned nurse practitioners are starting to call the shots in a lot of clinics/hospitals across the country. They're cheaper than MDs

6) Recalls - You're right on this one. You're nevery gonna be deployed or sent in harms way if you're a civilian.

I assume you're just being facetious on 7-8, these things can happen in any work environment (civi or military)
7) 4 hour waits to get an ID card
8) Gas mask fit testers who are only open 4 hours a week
9) Squadron PT- (If getting my heart rate up to 90 is a work-out, then I understand why the AF has a weight problem.)

10) GMO tours and the military match - True here. If you really don't want to do a GMO (heaven forbid you do something memorable and cool, to tell your grandkids about), and if don't want a military residency, then don't join.
 
crazybrancato said:
1) CBTs - Many civilian hospitals are using CBTs now (computer-based training) for training on sexual harassment, safety, etc . It's just too easy. In fact, truth be told, the civilian world is way ahead of the military in its usage of CBTs!

2) Annual SARC training - not sure what SARC is, but I'll give this one to you.

3) Skill atrophy - hear this complaint from many civilian docs too (except it's about the respective towns they live in, or clinics they work at).

4) Poorly trained nurses - all over the country, aka the new stories you here about nurses shooting up kids with ridiculous doses of heparin

5) Supervision by nurses - seasoned nurse practitioners are starting to call the shots in a lot of clinics/hospitals across the country. They're cheaper than MDs

6) Recalls - You're right on this one. You're nevery gonna be deployed or sent in harms way if you're a civilian.

I assume you're just being facetious on 7-8, these things can happen in any work environment (civi or military)
7) 4 hour waits to get an ID card
8) Gas mask fit testers who are only open 4 hours a week
9) Squadron PT- (If getting my heart rate up to 90 is a work-out, then I understand why the AF has a weight problem.)

10) GMO tours and the military match - True here. If you really don't want to do a GMO (heaven forbid you do something memorable and cool, to tell your grandkids about), and if don't want a military residency, then don't join.
Click to expand...


Crazy is FOS. 😀😀

There is no comparison between MilMed and the civilian world. He is Troll. :laugh::laugh:
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How come you stayed in so long? Did you have an ROTC obligation on top of your HPSP?

Quit pretending like you need special qualifications to talk about military medicine on an internet forum. If what someone says is wrong, then address it. Attacking the person's points by claiming the person doesn't meet some unknown level of experience is kinda lame and has been done to death.
 
crazybrancato said:
the majority of them seemed to be happy with their decision, all things considered. Now that's not to say they're bouncing off walls (they have their complaints, no doubt, and they're valid), but overall they said they'd do it again. I wish more of them would log on here.
Click to expand...

Ummm.....When I talk to people in person I tell them I'm happy and I'm glad I came on, especially if any of my leadership is listening. My specialty leader and my squadron commander both think I'm staying in for 20 years.

Word to the wise, as soon as they know they can't retain you they will send you on a very unpleasant deployment, don't kid yourself. "Someone has to go, why not someone who is getting out anyway" is how their thought process goes. They can always hurt you more. I you think I'm paranoid ask around a bit. Despite policies against it, a doc I know just deployed 2 months out of residency...with the ARMY (he signed on with the AF) Good luck passing your boards buddy after spending your first year out of residency in the AOR instead of studying, going to board review courses, and actually practicing in your specialty.

If you really want to know how someone feels about the military, try to catch them away from work when no one else is around. Then talk to their spouse.
 
deleted
 
Last edited:
kwick release said:
Crazy is FOS. 😀😀

There is no comparison between MilMed and the civilian world. He is Troll. :laugh::laugh:
Click to expand...

kwickrelease (nice login name BTW): you're very articulate, I can tell. You seem to have the time to login here, so why not take some more time and tell us about your own experiences? That would be much more beneficial than your previous post, which only fuels my argument that most people are here to complain and b!tch.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

RockDoc28
Faculty in military FM residency?
Replies
2
Views
1K
RockDoc28
RockDoc28
SmokeyFish
40 years old want to attend military medicine
Replies
43
Views
8K
ProwlerturnGas
ProwlerturnGas
MedicalCorpse
Military Medicine: Fire. Aim. Ready.
2 3
Replies
132
Views
14K
DOswag
DOswag
MedicalCorpse
Medicalcorpse.com is on hiatus...again.
Replies
4
Views
2K
pgg
pgg
F
Navy Operational Medicine Wiki
Replies
2
Views
704
flightdoc09
F
Top Bottom