Considering Air national Guard

[eyedo]

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Hello all:
I have read most of the treads and trying to vex opinions if I should join air guard or not and why.

Some infomation. I am in private practice for 13 yrs board cert in ophthalmology. I am in solo practice and looking "something" different and want join as flight surgeon. As you can guess I am a little older and want to fly and offer something back to my country. I realize the pay is poor compared to solo practice but with a weekend a month and two weeks a year I can easily swing the time to do guard.

Several working FS I have talked with have stated that there has not been a mandatory deployment of FS in 30yrs and that it has been all voluntary and all have been filled with other FS from other units. I realize that there is a danger of mandatory deployment and my practice will on the line.

Please let me know of your thoughts.

 

[i want out]

Hello all:
I have read most of the treads and trying to vex opinions if I should join air guard or not and why.

Some infomation. I am in private practice for 13 yrs board cert in ophthalmology. I am in solo practice and looking "something" different and want join as flight surgeon. As you can guess I am a little older and want to fly and offer something back to my country. I realize the pay is poor compared to solo practice but with a weekend a month and two weeks a year I can easily swing the time to do guard.

Several working FS I have talked with have stated that there has not been a mandatory deployment of FS in 30yrs and that it has been all voluntary and all have been filled with other FS from other units. I realize that there is a danger of mandatory deployment and my practice will on the line.

Please let me know of your thoughts.

Turn on CNN or Fox news.

There are many different ways of volunteering. When you sign on the dotted line, and raise your right hand to join the Guard, then you have just become a volunteer.

If your practice would significantly suffer from your absence for a year, then you need to seriously reconsider whether this is the choice you want to make.

But as the FNG, in the units, you will be the MOST likely to get tapped if all the other more senior guys say no thanks to a deployment.

Also don't assume that you will be doing anything related to Optho, or FS, you could just as easily get tapped to be primary care for a unit.
Do you remember enough from 13 years ago to do primary care?
You have to ask yourself the hard questions, cause all the military see's is the medical degree. They make very little if any distinction between a nephrologist or an FP when it comes to deployments.

i want out

 

[eyedo]

I want out.

Thank you for your thoughts.

This good infomation as I am pondering, if I should do this or not. I do not have the all the infomation as I am outside looking in. The pakage looks very good on the outside and I just want infomation as what to possibly to expect once in for 4 yrs.

Any other insights are very much appreciated.

 

[IgD]

My thought is you are over qualified to be a Flight Surgeon/GMO. I would call the Navy Bureau of Medicine and ask what options you have. I've read about civilian neurosurgeons volunteering/signing up for a brief contract.

 

[DogFaceMedic]

Talk to each service.
Talk to people inside.
Some people have a hard time balancing realities of business with duty and desire to serve.
I know people who structured their ortho surgery practice so that they can spend 3 months each year deployed in the Air Guard or Reserve. Others can't. Get the facts. I like serving, I like the people, but the bureaucracy is like an incompetent state school.

 

[i want out]

My thought is you are over qualified to be a Flight Surgeon/GMO. I would call the Navy Bureau of Medicine and ask what options you have. I've read about civilian neurosurgeons volunteering/signing up for a brief contract.

I agree, that he is probably quite overqualified to be used effectively as a GMO/FS.

I have seen multiple several folks in Army (and its various reserve components) and the Navy that are subspecialty trained that are deployed and working as Primary care (GMO's essentially).

So, being overqualified, does NOT protect one from being deployed if they just need a Doc.

i want out