Can international medical graduate be an airforce flight surgeon??

[watcharaphat]

Hello

I am 3th grade medical student. I study in military surgeon college in my country. I will graduate in 3 years (MD) and receive the army rank "
Second Lieutenant" too. Could you please tell me that

1.Can international medical graduate be an airforce flight surgeon (in U.S. AF base)??
2.Do I need to pass USMLE system? (I think YES)
3.If you know anyone who is international medical graduate and now he/she is the flight surgeon, Could you please tell me his/her study model??

Thank you very much

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[glamqueen]

Hello

I am 3th grade medical student. I study in military surgeon college in my country. I will graduate in 3 years (MD) and receive the army rank "
Second Lieutenant" too. Could you please tell me that

1.Can international medical graduate be an airforce flight surgeon (in U.S. AF base)??
2.Do I need to pass USMLE system? (I think YES)
3.If you know anyone who is international medical graduate and now he/she is the flight surgeon, Could you please tell me his/her study model??

Thank you very much

Are you a U.S. citizen? If not, then no. Sorry. To be an officer in the United States military, you must be a citizen.

 

[berdugo75]

There are several things that you need to do in order to become a physician in the U.S. military (flight surgeon included):

1) Be a U.S. Citizen (not Permanent Resident, no visas).
2) You must be younger than 41 years of age.
3) You must be ECFMG certified.
4) You must complete at least a 1-year of residency in an ACGME accredited residency program.
5) You must pass USMLE Step 3.

If you don't meet ANY of these criteria, the recruiters will not even look at you and will be VERY disrespectful to you (in a polite way).

Once you have met the criteria, then the recruiters will be hounding you day and night to join their service. They will go all out to get you to join and they will be very respectful to you.

 

[berdugo75]

Also, you may want to brush up on your English.

 

[notdeadyet]

Are you a U.S. citizen? If not, then no. Sorry. To be an officer in the United States military, you must be a citizen.

Not necessarily true, folks.

There's beena program for non-citizen physicians to join. The process is something along the lines of enlisting as a path to citizenship. It's called MAVNI. I believe they're still taking apps in the Army but are up to their quota for the past year and won't take in more til the new year starts.

OP- do a quick search on this forum for MAVNI or a search on google and you can find out more.

 

[SPQR]

Not necessarily true, folks.

There's beena program for non-citizen physicians to join. The process is something along the lines of enlisting as a path to citizenship. It's called MAVNI. I believe they're still taking apps in the Army but are up to their quota for the past year and won't take in more til the new year starts.

OP- do a quick search on this forum for MAVNI or a search on google and you can find out more.

Interesting, citizenship is required for a commission in the US Armed Forces (I think that is Federal Law). So would these "MAVNI" physicians be given an enlisted status until their citizenship is finalized?

 

[notdeadyet]

So would these "MAVNI" physicians be given an enlisted status until their citizenship is finalized?

Bingo. Military enlistment is one of the traditional fast-tracks to citizenship anyway, so it was a cleverly set up program.

 

[glamqueen]

Bingo. Military enlistment is one of the traditional fast-tracks to citizenship anyway, so it was a cleverly set up program.

Now, I'm genuinely interested in this answer - so then are these Mavni docs operating as a doctor in the military as an enlisted instead of officer until they are citizens?

Bring on the fire and heat for this opinion, but I truly believe that to be an officer in the military - there should be NO loop hole for anyone - citizenship should be a must. It is an absolute ludicrous idea that someone who "belongs" to another country would be in leadership in the United States military, so I imagine if I were an enlisted under them - I would be furious. It just doesn't "sit" right either with me. Officer = citizen is the only way it could work. So what do these foreign people do while they wait to become a citizen? Surely not act as a doctor and if they do - are they like a Sr. Airman or a Staff Sgt or whatever? (Examples only to prove a point)? What would their rank be?

 

[notdeadyet]

so then are these Mavni docs operating as a doctor in the military as an enlisted instead of officer until they are citizens?

They're brought in as enlisted, fast tracked for citizenship and then become officers.

Bring on the fire and heat for this opinion, but I truly believe that to be an officer in the military - there should be NO loop hole for anyone - citizenship should be a must.

There's no loophole. You enlist (as non-citizens are already eligible to do), you are fast-tracked for citizenship, then you are commissioned. The only thing different about this program is that it's designed to aggressively recruit physicians and language experts.

It is an absolute ludicrous idea that someone who "belongs" to another country would be in leadership in the United States military, so I imagine if I were an enlisted under them - I would be furious.

Yeah, folks with accents can have a particularly tough time in this country. Toss in darker skin and it's a double-whammy.

Other than giving clues as to your stance, I don't know who someone is that "belongs" to another country. The military has a long history of accepting immigrants and using military service as a path towards citizenship, which suits our history as a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have held leadership roles in our military for a loooong time.

Some of our most decorated units have been made up of folks from different cultures. Units like the 442nd served this country with great distinction. I've read that folks questioned who the Japanese-Americans "belonged to" as they went off to war with the 442nd while even as their family was herded into internment camps during WWII .

It just doesn't "sit" right either with me. Officer = citizen is the only way it could work.

Read the program. That's the way it does work. Citizenship is a condition of commissioning. MAVNI is no exception.

So what do these foreign people do while they wait to become a citizen? Surely not act as a doctor and if they do - are they like a Sr. Airman or a Staff Sgt or whatever? (Examples only to prove a point)? What would their rank be?

Hearing things about "foreign people" and folks who "belong" to another country are clues that we probably have different ideas on this subject. I'd recommend doing a google to learn all you need about MAVNI.

I've got no interest in debating the program or the role of immigrants in the military. I'm just tossing out the program as an option for the OP as an option to serve, given his background.

 

[DrZuza]

Hello

I am 3th grade medical student. I study in military surgeon college in my country. I will graduate in 3 years (MD) and receive the army rank "
Second Lieutenant" too. Could you please tell me that

1.Can international medical graduate be an airforce flight surgeon (in U.S. AF base)??
2.Do I need to pass USMLE system? (I think YES)
3.If you know anyone who is international medical graduate and now he/she is the flight surgeon, Could you please tell me his/her study model??

Thank you very much

BTW - won't you have any service obligation after your military school? That would be unusual.

 

[DrZuza]

MAVNI is an Army program and the person was asking about the U.S. Air Force. USAF requirements are more demanding, and you can get commissioned as a U.S. citizen only!!! (no dual citizenship).

 

[notdeadyet]

MAVNI is an Army program and the person was asking about the U.S. Air Force.

MAVNI is a DoD program, not an Army program. The Army is the only service that recruited for it, but it's tri-service.

USAF requirements are more demanding, and you can get commissioned as a U.S. citizen only!!!

Nope, not more demanding. Citizenship is a requirement for commissioning for all three branches...

 

[glamqueen]

Zero ZERO problems with immigrants or foreign-trained doctors. One of my most favorite and revered docs to ever work for was foreign and foreign-trained.

100 percent have problems with someone who "belongs" as in CITIZENSHIP to another country leading in an officer position in the United States military. I guess I should have been more explicit in my meaning in the use of the word "belongs."

Do not infer opinions that I don't hold on immigrants based on a misinterpretation of what I meant.

Bottom line - I'm glad only citizens can be officers in this country's military. If you are going to be an in leadership officer position in a country's military - you should probably be a citizen of said country. That is all I meant. Yes, of course we have fine service men and women in our enlisted military from other countries. Duh. This is about being in an officer program as a non-citizen. Period.

 

[former military]

The military has made being a doctor in the military so undesirable that they have to go to any length to fill slots.
expect a lot more PAs, CRNAs, foreign trained people, DO explosion.
if they paid better, and most importantly made it such that you didn't have to compromise patient care and professionally bang your head against the concrete people would be lining up to take the deal.

they gave up retention as a goal for ambitious doctors a long time ago.
Now they retain the people who don't want to go out and work hard and recruit the people who don't have good options... and the short sided people who take the money up front or ride a wave of patriotism that will be beaten out of most.

 

[watcharaphat]

berdugo75 : I think so. I can speak English well but I cannot write T T.
notdeadyet : Thank you very much for your answer. Now I am looking forward to the MAVNI system
BTW : Yeah, It's 10 years. But if I can pass the USMLE and match the residency program in U.S. , The army will let me go and I have to come back. In this case, I have to go to the conflict area for 3 years , 2 years in war zone and 1 years in hospital for passing and matching the USMLE.

I want to be the flight surgeon because I want to work with NASA. The space program in my country is going to establish and the army need someone to specialist in these fields (engineering, science and aerospacemedicine).

Thank you every people. Everyone here are very kind ^^.

 

[glamqueen]

berdugo75 : I think so. I can speak English well but I cannot write T T.
notdeadyet : Thank you very much for your answer. Now I am looking forward to the MAVNI system
BTW : Yeah, It's 10 years. But if I can pass the USMLE and match the residency program in U.S. , The army will let me go and I have to come back. In this case, I have to go to the conflict area for 3 years , 2 years in war zone and 1 years in hospital for passing and matching the USMLE.

I want to be the flight surgeon because I want to work with NASA. The space program in my country is going to establish and the army need someone to specialist in these fields (engineering, science and aerospacemedicine).

Thank you every people. Everyone here are very kind ^^.

The MAVNI program is temporarily on hold and not available.

https://my.goarmy.com/info/form/GetBrcFormRedirectByUrl.do?url=/info/mavni

OP - wouldn't you have a hard time going back to your country and serving as an officer in their military as a U.S. citizen? To serve in our military as a doctor, you would have to become a citizen of our country - even if the MAVNI program was reinstated.

Best of luck with whatever you do. Plenty of doctors have immigrated to the U.S. and become citizens and stayed here.

 

[KD1655]

My pediatrician was trained in medicine at a medical school in Scotland in the 1950's. He went on to get his residency training through the US Navy and served with distinction during the Vietnam War; I do not think that he served a GMO tour. When I mean distinction, I really mean distinction; he once told me a story how he was shot how in a UH-1 en route to some rural hospital and was the only passenger not injured. He coordinated air rescue while treating his fellow sailors and concealing their position from the enemy. I believe that act earned him the Bronze Star for Valor. Also, he always told me stories about how the VC routinely infiltrated the military and civilian hospital and how several physicians (not including him) were forced into fire fights with these infiltrators. After Vietnam, he left the Navy as an O-4 to start a private practice, which is now widely successful. When I applied to USNA, I asked him for a letter of recommendation and he wrote amazing stuff about his time in the Navy. Considering that I have a chronic medical condition, I have seen quite a few physicians trained at the top US schools such as Harvard, Hopkins, etc. However, none of them were able to command my attention and respect quite like my primary care pediatrician did growing up. He is currently in his mid eighties (although he looks like he is 20 years younger) and still practicing relatively full time (3-4 days/week) and has the goal of becoming the oldest practicing physician in the state. I guess what I was trying to say was that, in my opinion, its not where you go to medical school that will make you a good physician, but rather what kind of a man are you.

 

[tbelavadi]

I am a foreign medical graduate having completed all my USMLE and also currently on active duty status as a combat medic. I have had no such luck when it comes to residency. It looks like you are very knowledgeable in this regard. Can you please suggest something for my particular case

 

[tbelavadi]

The military has made being a doctor in the military so undesirable that they have to go to any length to fill slots.
expect a lot more PAs, CRNAs, foreign trained people, DO explosion.
if they paid better, and most importantly made it such that you didn't have to compromise patient care and professionally bang your head against the concrete people would be lining up to take the deal.

they gave up retention as a goal for ambitious doctors a long time ago.
Now they retain the people who don't want to go out and work hard and recruit the people who don't have good options... and the short sided people who take the money up front or ride a wave of patriotism that will be beaten out of most.

I am a foreign medical graduate having completed all my USMLE and also currently on active duty status as a combat medic. I have had no such luck when it comes to residency. It looks like you are very knowledgeable in this regard. Can you please suggest something for my particular case

 

[buffdoc]

I am a foreign medical graduate having completed all my USMLE and also currently on active duty status as a combat medic. I have had no such luck when it comes to residency. It looks like you are very knowledgeable in this regard. Can you please suggest something for my particular case

You have to become an officer first. Talk to an AMEDD recruiter...they might be able to help you.