Navy Army vs Navy reserves general Military

[Novost]

Hello All

I've been interested in joining the reserves following gen surg residency (presently newly minted pgy3) but have been torn between what branch to join. I've narrowed to navy vs army since they appear to be the more active for gen surg and in more need. I have an interest to also join not only out of service to the country but also to serve for humanitarian missions. I've asked recruiters on both sides for examples of differences between the branches but generally get vague answers or "surgery is surgery" (fair enough) but I was curious if anyone here had some insights about differences between experiences, deployments, QOL etc that bore out of personal experience or from surgical colleagues in either branch that influenced why they picked one branch over the other.

Thanks in advance!

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[John1513]

There are so many variations in a billet for a physician.

A key word to ask your recruiter/Detailer to have in writing for you is the term “platform.”

Apparently if you are stationed say at a hospital, but are part of a “platform” on-call list to be ready to deploy for humanitarian aid when needed.

Otherwise no way will your hospital command let you go, manpower-wise, to go on a humanitarian mission.

 

[Novost]

There are so many variations in a billet for a physician.

A key word to ask your recruiter/Detailer to have in writing for you is the term “platform.”

Apparently if you are stationed say at a hospital, but are part of a “platform” on-call list to be ready to deploy for humanitarian aid when needed.

Otherwise no way will your hospital command let you go, manpower-wise, to go on a humanitarian mission.

Thanks for the reply! Great advice, much appreciated

 

[militaryPHYS]

Good job seeking out information beyond what the recruiter will tell you. Don't listen to them at all. I don't have any personal experience with the reserves yet, but I do have 2 different navy reservist ortho surgeons coming this summer. I will ping them on current status quo of what they do. In the mean time, hopefully there are others with first hand experience that can weigh in for you.

 

[d2305]

Having been to Bullis and Newport, the Navy generally treats you better.

 

[brones]

Do any of you know how easy it is to balance a civilian practice and reserve obligations?

Have any of you heard of deployment/activation frequency and lengths.

Currently a 2nd year ortho resident considering Navy reserves and wanted to get some insight before I go through with the process