Best places to mobilize as an intensivist or internist in the US Navy?

[newnavyMD]

Greetings!

Joined the US Navy reserves recently. Will be credentialed for critical care and internal medicine. Looking to mobilize OCONUS in 2023 / 2024. Hoping to bring my family along with me (I dont mind paying for this out of pocket if necessary ie off base apartment / self pay). Hoping to gain some insight into any MD/DO's experiences that have mobilized to Navy Hospitals OCONUS (especially if they brought their families with them). Any recommendations with regards to Okinawa, Rota, Bahrain etc? Through my research I believe family cannot go along if I choose to go to GITMO or Djibouti? Are Navy MD's able to mobilize to Landstuhl? Any insight to how busy these hospitals and specifically their ICU's are? The busier the better but I understand volume/acuity may be lower right now.

Thanks!

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[DrMetal]

Greetings!

Joined the US Navy reserves recently. Will be credentialed for critical care and internal medicine. Looking to mobilize OCONUS in 2023 / 2024. Hoping to bring my family along with me (I dont mind paying for this out of pocket if necessary ie off base apartment / self pay). Hoping to gain some insight into any MD/DO's experiences that have mobilized to Navy Hospitals OCONUS (especially if they brought their families with them). Any recommendations with regards to Okinawa, Rota, Bahrain etc? Through my research I believe family cannot go along if I choose to go to GITMO or Djibouti? Are Navy MD's able to mobilize to Landstuhl? Any insight to how busy these hospitals and specifically their ICU's are? The busier the better but I understand volume/acuity may be lower right now.

Thanks!

You can't take your family to nasty places like GTMO o DJ. That's on your own.

What do you mean by mobilize? I don't think these places are necessarily looking for critical care, Though I could be wrong. We usually don't have a problem filling up these billets with active duty folks.

If you're looking for great critical care experience, stay in your Civilian practice.

 

[newnavyMD]

Thank you for responding.

I thought the terminology was that active duty go on deployments while reservists go on mobilizations?

Ive checked ZipServe a few times for Reserve order opportunities including mobilizations, ADTs etc. Interested to hear if any Navy reservists IM / critical care physicians have gone on orders OCONUS recently to any of the main Naval hospitals and what their experiences were. Trying to research which mobilization / ADT to apply for.

Definitely thought long and hard about the possibility of being sent to GTMO or DJ for 9-12 months sin familia before I signed the contract. If it happens then duty calls.

I would rather volunteer for orders rather than be voluntold. Needs of the Navy of course. Just trying to find out any extra info I can. Very hard to gain insight into the available or unavailable opportunities.

 

[DrMetal]

Thank you for responding.

I thought the terminology was that active duty go on deployments while reservists go on mobilizations?

Ive checked ZipServe a few times for Reserve order opportunities including mobilizations, ADTs etc. Interested to hear if any Navy reservists IM / critical care physicians have gone on orders OCONUS recently to any of the main Naval hospitals and what their experiences were. Trying to research which mobilization / ADT to apply for.

Definitely thought long and hard about the possibility of being sent to GTMO or DJ for 9-12 months sin familia before I signed the contract. If it happens then duty calls.

I would rather volunteer for orders rather than be voluntold. Needs of the Navy of course. Just trying to find out any extra info I can. Very hard to gain insight into the available or unavailable opportunities.

Well when you mobilize, you're on active duty.

In any case, you've not likely to be involuntarily mobilized. That takes a lot of effort on the part of the reserves (and the DoD has to justify why no on one active duty, or even in their civilian force can't do the job).

If an entire unit is involuntarily mobilized, that also counts as an involuntary mobilization for you. Again unlikely in the current climate, would require a lot of justification.

Voluntold, maybe. Its still hard to tell a reservist what to do!

Volunteering yourself for an ADT? Pick your battles carefully. I guarantee you if you go to GTMO or DJ you will be bored off your a$$. There's no critical care on in those parts right now.

 

[newnavyMD]

Well when you mobilize, you're on active duty.

In any case, you've not likely to be involuntarily mobilized. That takes a lot of effort on the part of the reserves (and the DoD has to justify why no on one active duty, or even in their civilian force can't do the job).

If an entire unit is involuntarily mobilized, that also counts as an involuntary mobilization for you. Again unlikely in the current climate, would require a lot of justification.

Voluntold, maybe. Its still hard to tell a reservist what to do!

Volunteering yourself for an ADT? Pick your battles carefully. I guarantee you if you go to GTMO or DJ you will be bored off your a$$. There's no critical care on in those parts right now.

Sound advice. Was hoping to go somewhere like Okinawa? I don't know if Navy MDs can go to Landstuhl. Could mobilize as an Internist as well. What about ADT or mob on the Comfort or Mercy? The possibility of going on orders OCONUS was one of the reasons I joined the Navy Reserves. Won't beat a dead horse tho if those opportunities aren't there right now. Fully aware prior to signing that I might just do one weekend per month two weeks per year for the duration.

 

[DrMetal]

Sound advice. Was hoping to go somewhere like Okinawa? I don't know if Navy MDs can go to Landstuhl. Could mobilize as an Internist as well. What about ADT or mob on the Comfort or Mercy? The possibility of going on orders OCONUS was one of the reasons I joined the Navy Reserves. Won't beat a dead horse tho if those opportunities aren't there right now. Fully aware prior to signing that I might just do one weekend per month two weeks per year for the duration.

If it's advertised, and they're looking for volunteers from the reserves, go for it and apply.