2 Docs: Military/Military or Military/Civilian??

[SeminoleFan3]

Scenario: 2 med students are going to get married. I'm already Navy HPSP (4 yr deal). In your opinion(s), is it easier if both docs are Navy, or to have him stay civilian (particularly when matching becomes an issue)?

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[colbgw02]

My wife and I were classmates. She's civilian; I'm in the Army. We managed to match "together", but the more I think about it the more I realize that it's pretty phenomenal that we were able to stay together.

Her program director was very understanding of our situation, and it didn't hurt that she was a fantastic applicant. I also think that the fact that I had already matched gave extra legitimacy to her statement that she would definitely come to her program.

There are so many factors that have to go just right for the civilian/military match to work. The stars really have to be aligned. For the Navy, your situation may be further complicated by the relatively higher likelihood of doing a GMO, as well as the smaller size and fewer locations of Navy GME.

People certainly do go that route because it definitely increases your chances of matching together. I can think of 2-3 residents just from my hospital that joined because of their spouse. Still, we never even considered having her join the Army. For us, even if we ended up living apart for a few years, it would be worth it compared to the years she would give up in the Army.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

While it is possible that it might be easier to get residency at the same place if you are military/military, post-residency it would be MUCH easier to be military/civilian for most specialties. The ones I know have OB spouses, one contracts at the military hospital (for >3X what we're making) and the other found a group in town which she contracts with.

Don't forget about the possibility of back to back deployments. Most Navy deployments are 7-9 months right now. Can you imagine not seeing your spouse for 18 months?

 

[NavyFP]

While it is possible that it might be easier to get residency at the same place if you are military/military, post-residency it would be MUCH easier to be military/civilian for most specialties. The ones I know have OB spouses, one contracts at the military hospital (for >3X what we're making) and the other found a group in town which she contracts with.

Don't forget about the possibility of back to back deployments. Most Navy deployments are 7-9 months right now. Can you imagine not seeing your spouse for 18 months?

That would be about the same as the Army these days with one AD member.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

That would be about the same as the Army these days with one AD member.

While true, I'm not sure what your point is? That 7-8 months isn't that long? 4 months feels awfully long to me right now.

 

[Mirror Form]

Scenario: 2 med students are going to get married. I'm already Navy HPSP (4 yr deal). In your opinion(s), is it easier if both docs are Navy, or to have him stay civilian (particularly when matching becomes an issue)?

If you want to live together, the only guaranteed way is for one person to stay civilian. You'll be at a very high risk of not staying together if you're both military (match can be dicey, as can getting stationed later). Whereas, if your husband is civilian, he'll have more control over his location.

 

[Gastrapathy]

If you want to live together, the only guaranteed way is for one person to stay civilian. You'll be at a very high risk of not staying together if you're both military (match can be dicey, as can getting stationed later). Whereas, if your husband is civilian, he'll have more control over his location.

I don't think you can say that it is guaranteed that a civ/mil situation will guarantee that they will stay together unless he is willing to not start internship if the match doesn't work out.

That being said, all you guarantee by being a mil/mil couple is that you'll do your internship together. After that, all bets are off. I do know a few mil/mil couples who've made it work pretty well and one couple that was "co-located" more than a 4 hr drive apart for 3 years.