How is the lifestyle and pay for an army/airforce pathologist? any ideas? thanks
How is the lifestyle and pay for an army/airforce pathologist? any ideas? thanks
That's great info DrBloodmoney. Just to be certain, when you say "net", you are referring to you net pay after federal income taxes, employment taxes, etc. are deducted from your gross pay, correct? I realize this is a simple understanding for most, but I've seen this mistake been made countless times by folks when discussing pay - plus, it's inevitable that someone will ask this question at some point - might as well get it out of the way...
Well there are several of us who hang around here, but I'll share.
Lifestyle: Good (M-F: 8-4/5 at a tertiary, probably even better than that a smaller place). I've only been at tertiary so we get pretty great cases, but we don't have a really 'active' consult service so it's bread-and-butter pathology with zebra sprinkles. The real fly in the ointment is deploying to Iraq/Afghanistan. We're more-or-less useless to the 'real' Army so deploying is pretty unusual (but can happen). Other specialities get hit with this about every other year or so. But path is a nice little oasis.
Pay: Could always be better. During residency it's great because you make more than civilian residents (~70K+). After you'll be making in/above the academics pay range, less than private. Three years post-residency (7 years in) I currently net $8421.22 take home each month ($102,254.64) plus annual doctor and specialty bonuses of $15k + $20k (taxed at 25%: 26250) so I net 128,504.64 this year. There is an additional bonus that you get if you decide to extend after your initial obligation payback (I'm not currently eligible for that) up to $30k added to the other bonuses. If you stay in and shoot for retirement ~20 years, current mid career (12-15 years) you'll net around $160 and end-career (18-low 20's) you'll net around $200. You can "retire" at 20 years and get 1/2 of the base-pay (does not include bonuses, which royally sucks) for waking up in the morning which currently nets you around 55K a year for an O-6 until you die. For me that will be age 46, so there is plenty of time to go to the private sector (but let's face it, we'll ALL be working for the gov't by that time) and still collect that 55k x 20-30 years.
But there is zero overhead for anything except your own books. Any reasonable test can get ordered and the amount of immunos you can ordered is only restricted by the amount of tissue you have left. We take care of our people pretty good.
But do yourself a favor: do not join the Air Force or the Navy. The Army is the largest medical system of the three so you have a much better chance of doing what you want to do. The Air Force's medical system is completely broken (likely because they do not have a separate Medical Command, their line pukes get to make all of their decisions for them). And the Navy hates their doctors (and it shows!) and makes it hard to get promoted (Army currently selected at >80% for first timers to O-5 and O-6, the Navy is somewhere south of 50%, so this affects pay and morale). Also the Navy is the only pathology training in the US that still requires their residents to do an intern year first... that is because their ships and the Marines need a lot of minimally-trained people to hand out aspirin and freeze genital warts off of a very healthy young population. So if you don't want to do those things definitely do not Go Navy. Army has a lot of problems too, but it is probably the least-worse.
useful info. but i think i read some where that army med requires u to do an internship or something, am i onto anything here?
DrBloodmoney, what is the difference between active duty and army reserve pathologist? Wich one is the best way to go?
Also, after you finish residency, would you be able to apply to fellowships the same way as your civilian counterpart?
Thank you
On a related note, what is the deal with the "Army reserve pathologist" ads on the CAP website. It looks like numerous cities.
Are you just a regular pathologist who is in the reserves (like other jobs) or are you a pathologist who works full time in the Army? I don't get it.
Hmm, I would consider being a reserve Army pathologist under the agreement I would join at least as a Full Bird Col., but perferably as a 1-star.
Are there 1-star Pathologists Blood?
Also I would want some type of commando training, but that would be negotiable.
Hmm, I would consider being a reserve Army pathologist under the agreement I would join at least as a Full Bird Col., but perferably as a 1-star.
Are there 1-star Pathologists Blood?
Also I would want some type of commando training, but that would be negotiable.
I would also need to roll into sign outs bearing the new M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle and dressed in a Ghillie suit.
Guy I rotated with in med school retired as a 1 star, was an Army reservist. Functioned as a BN commander, I believe...deployed to Gulf 1 and ran a CSH.
Reserves are the only branch that have slots for pathologists; the Guard doesn't have slots (unless you want to go to flight school and get deployed to the theater doing flight medicine).
Careers differ greatly in the Reserve vs Active Duty, particularly in terms of deployments. I'm not entirely sure how the AD deployments go in terms of time frame, but Reserve is 90 days BOG (+a little time for ramp up & demob). I'm not sure how responsibilties work, however...I've heard everything from reservists backfill BAMC & WR, to backfill Germany & Italy, to "all they do is blood bank & forensics," so I have no idea...would be nice to find out (anyone know please PM me).
DrBloodmoney, I just want to get something clear. You are saying that you will be doing a fellowship next year right. Does that mean you have to repay the army with for example 3 years after residency before you can apply for fellowship? Im assuming you did the FAP or Financial Assistance Plan during your residency. Is that how it works? or can you do a fellowship before you start repaying the army? How competitive are the fellowship spots in the armed forces?
thank you
Lifestyle: Good (M-F: 8-4/5 at a tertiary, probably even better than that a smaller place). I've only been at tertiary so we get pretty great cases, but we don't have a really 'active' consult service so it's bread-and-butter pathology with zebra sprinkles
But what is bread-and-butter for the military? I imagine that there is much less neoplastic disease, based on the age distribution. Plenty of pap-smears, I assume, but what types of cases do you mostly get? Is there any specifically military pathology? Maybe an extra helping of leishmaniasis?