Air Force Physicians -- Have you been stationed here???

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muaythai

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I was told by my AO that these are the Air Force bases I could end up at. Since I will need to rank them, I'm looking for information about them.

If you have been or currently are stationed at one of these places, please share with me what the hospital, base, and community is like. Please tell me anything you think is important to know. What are the pros and cons of these places in your opinion? Your thoughts will influence my fate!

Here is the list:
Andrews, Maryland
Aviano, Italy
Barksdale, Louisiana
Bitburg/Spangdahlem, Germany
Cannon, New Mexico
Charleston, South Carolina
Davis Monthan, Arizona
Dover, Delaware
Eglin, Florida
Elmendorf, Alaska
Keesler, Mississippi
Lackland, Texas
Lakenheath, England
Landstuhl, Germany
Langley, Virginia
Luke, Arizona
MacDill, Florida
Misawa, Japan
Mountain Home, Idaho
Nellis, Nevada
Offutt, Nebraska
Osan, Korea
Scott, Illinois
Sheppard, Texas
Travis, California
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado
Wright Patterson, Ohio
Yokota, Japa

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I was told by my AO that these are the Air Force bases I could end up at. Since I will need to rank them, I'm looking for information about them.

If you have been or currently are stationed at one of these places, please share with me what the hospital, base, and community is like. Please tell me anything you think is important to know. What are the pros and cons of these places in your opinion? Your thoughts will influence my fate!

Here is the list:
Andrews, Maryland
Aviano, Italy
Barksdale, Louisiana
Bitburg/Spangdahlem, Germany
Cannon, New Mexico
Charleston, South Carolina
Davis Monthan, Arizona
Dover, Delaware
Eglin, Florida
Elmendorf, Alaska
Keesler, Mississippi
Lackland, Texas
Lakenheath, England
Landstuhl, Germany
Langley, Virginia
Luke, Arizona
MacDill, Florida
Misawa, Japan
Mountain Home, Idaho
Nellis, Nevada
Offutt, Nebraska
Osan, Korea
Scott, Illinois
Sheppard, Texas
Travis, California
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado
Wright Patterson, Ohio
Yokota, Japa


Heh.

Remember, this is not like the ERAS match.

I found out after I got my assignment that what they do is first scan everyone's list to see if anyone actually put one of the Undesirable bases on their wish lists ANYWHERE. So if you put Minot, Cannon, Barksdale, etc. at #20, they will give that to you even if your #1 is open. That way they can say that "you got one of the bases on your wish list."

My advice - ONLY rank the good bases, even if that leaves you with less than 20 spots.
 
Heh.

Remember, this is not like the ERAS match.

I found out after I got my assignment that what they do is first scan everyone's list to see if anyone actually put one of the Undesirable bases on their wish lists ANYWHERE. So if you put Minot, Cannon, Barksdale, etc. at #20, they will give that to you even if your #1 is open. That way they can say that "you got one of the bases on your wish list."

My advice - ONLY rank the good bases, even if that leaves you with less than 20 spots.

I think that's the kind of information the OP is looking for -- what are the 'good' bases, what's so bad about the ones you list? I'm interested in this as well.
 
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Are you entering in as a flight surgeon or graduating resident with no prior experience? If so...

Not gonna happen: USAF Academy (you wouldnt want it anyway), Misawa, Aviano, any Germany bases, any England bases, Langley, among others.

The best way to go about this is to call the individual departments at each base and inquire about availability and their daily work schedule/life, as experiences change over the years and you should be more interested in what the docs think of their current assignment.

As an aside, why did you you put Cannon up on your list (Or is this just a list of what is available)?
 
Don't spend too much time sweating over this list. Spend the time instead calling and speaking with the assignment officer. Send him a Christmas present. Seriously. I would have if I could go back and do it all again.

I can help a little more if you mention a specialty.
 
Scott AFB is in Shiloh IL, about 20 miles east of St. Louis MO. That wouldn't be a bad place imo. It's a big base with a big hospital that houses an FP residency, so you'd have residents to cover a lot and plenty of opportunitties to moonlight.

Sheppard, however, is in Wichita Falls TX. I love TX and have spent great times in the piney woods, the hill country, and the big bend area, but Wichita Falls sucks.

Cannon NM, LOL. That is the most desolate base ever. With 10,000 airmen/dependents they can't have more than a 5 room clinic with FP and OB/Gyn.

As others have said above, find out where the bases are and call the clinics to speak to the docs. That's the only way to get a feel for a place. I have urbane attendings who would seem more at home near big cities tell me they can't wait to get back to Bragg or Bliss because they enjoyed the practice environment so much.
 
I think that's the kind of information the OP is looking for -- what are the 'good' bases, what's so bad about the ones you list? I'm interested in this as well.

Ya, I know...

Look up Charleston. I've heard great things about it, and I'm not sure if the secret is out about it yet...
 
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