Civilian doctors in the military

[rowan]

This may be a very naive question, but I know next to nothing about military medicine, so here it is. Are there civilian doctors that are in the military doing other things? Say, for instance, you are a civilian doctor, but want to be a PJ in the USAF or USAF Reserve (I'm not even sure if there are any PJs in the reserves). I don't mean being a doctor with a PJ unit, but an actual PJ, is that possible, or is the training simply too much to do something else? They are sort of related, right? I guess age restrictions would also come into play?

I guess what I am asking is, are civilian doctors always military doctors, or can they choose to do something else if they want to? I have heard of civilian doctors being pilots in the ANG, but that was also from a recruiter, so I thought I might get a more truthful answer here.

Thanks in advance for any information.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Croooz]

This may be a very naive question, but I know next to nothing about military medicine, so here it is. Are there civilian doctors that are in the military doing other things? Say, for instance, you are a civilian doctor, but want to be a PJ in the USAF or USAF Reserve (I'm not even sure if there are any PJs in the reserves). I don't mean being a doctor with a PJ unit, but an actual PJ, is that possible, or is the training simply too much to do something else? They are sort of related, right? I guess age restrictions would also come into play?

I guess what I am asking is, are civilian doctors always military doctors, or can they choose to do something else if they want to? I have heard of civilian doctors being pilots in the ANG, but that was also from a recruiter, so I thought I might get a more truthful answer here.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Yes, you can. You can be a doctor in the civilian world and a CRO (PJ officer) in the military...if you're in the Reserves or National Guard. I'm not familiar with how competitive it is for officers at this point. If you want to become a PJ then by all means go for it. You'll have to pay the cost which is easily 12 months of straight training. If you're interested in PJ then go to www.specialtactics.com and read the FAQ, do a search, & read the FAQ...did I say read the FAQ??. Log in and get to meet people. See what they recommend.

I can say it's usually not recommended. You are only allowed to go as far your military training allows. You would have to know, without question, where your PJ abilities end...regardless of how well trained you are as a physician. This is why this would become a problem. Look at the website and you'll get your answers.