dermatology in army?

[vkrn]

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Are dermatologists in the army plagued with the same problems that I see mentioned everywhere in this military med forum?

I've noticed in journal articles that often it's military dermatologists writing about interesting skin conditions. I'm interested in HIV and ID derm, with an emphasis on remote medicine, so that's why I'm considering the army reserves.

Thoughts?

 

[Homunculus]

Are dermatologists in the army plagued with the same problems that I see mentioned everywhere in this military med forum?

I've noticed in journal articles that often it's military dermatologists writing about interesting skin conditions. I'm interested in HIV and ID derm, with an emphasis on remote medicine, so that's why I'm considering the army reserves.

Thoughts?

derm folks are happy. but they don't get anywhere near the bank in the military as civilian. it's the nature of the beast when you aren't primary care.

if by remote medicine you mean desert medicine, you're probably in luck. there's also some tropical med courses they offer, but if you wanna be in the jungles diagnosing rare skin diseases for a living you may have a hard time getting them to let you do that.

--your friendly neighborhood steroid, antifungal, abx, then consult derm caveman

 

[colbgw02]

Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but you could try the USPHS. As I recall, they offer tons of opportunities in underserved areas in U.S. territories in the south pacific, like American Samoa, Guam, etc. I dunno, just a thought.

 

[swampthing]

Are dermatologists in the army plagued with the same problems that I see mentioned everywhere in this military med forum?

I've noticed in journal articles that often it's military dermatologists writing about interesting skin conditions. I'm interested in HIV and ID derm, with an emphasis on remote medicine, so that's why I'm considering the army reserves.

Thoughts?

I'm a Navy Derm resident. I have rotated at the military derm residency programs at NCC (Army and Navy combined residency in Wash DC) and San Diego (Navy only), but not SAUSEC (Army and Air Force combined residency in San Antonio). From what I've seen, I believe Military Derm programs see the same type of Derm patients as Civilian Derm programs. You occassionally see an interesting patient here and there, but you mostly see bread and butter stuff (ie, AK's, skin cancer screenings, warts, eczema, psoriasis, etc). HIV and ID Derm (other than Leish) are NOT seen everyday, NOT every week. There's just not many HIV patients in the military patient population. Also preventive medicine prevents most ID cases from occurring overseas, and if they do occur, sometimes ID handles it (not derm) and you may never see it. However, if there are any "interesting patients", then they come to Grand Rounds for everyone to see.

Yes, military derm writes up the great cases and publishes them. But they definitely are not everyday occurrences...and I don't think they occur more frequently than civilian programs. You're lucky if you get a great case once a month.

FYI: I have Army classmates in my Derm residency program. They said there are multiple dermatologists in Iraq and Afghanistan (I believe "13"). But only 1 of them gets to solely practice dermatology at the Army Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. I don't know about Afghanistan. The other dermatologists are deployed to the Middle East as GMO's, NOT as dermatologists.

 

[epidendrum]

I'm a Navy Derm resident. I have rotated at the military derm residency programs at NCC (Army and Navy combined residency in Wash DC) and San Diego (Navy only), but not SAUSEC (Army and Air Force combined residency in San Antonio). From what I've seen, I believe Military Derm programs see the same type of Derm patients as Civilian Derm programs. You occassionally see an interesting patient here and there, but you mostly see bread and butter stuff (ie, AK's, skin cancer screenings, warts, eczema, psoriasis, etc). HIV and ID Derm (other than Leish) are NOT seen everyday, NOT every week. There's just not many HIV patients in the military patient population. Also preventive medicine prevents most ID cases from occurring overseas, and if they do occur, sometimes ID handles it (not derm) and you may never see it. However, if there are any "interesting patients", then they come to Grand Rounds for everyone to see.

Yes, military derm writes up the great cases and publishes them. But they definitely are not everyday occurrences...and I don't think they occur more frequently than civilian programs. You're lucky if you get a great case once a month.

FYI: I have Army classmates in my Derm residency program. They said there are multiple dermatologists in Iraq and Afghanistan (I believe "13"). But only 1 of them gets to solely practice dermatology at the Army Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. I don't know about Afghanistan. The other dermatologists are deployed to the Middle East as GMO's, NOT as dermatologists.

Hi Swampthing,

I am a senior medical student who applyied to derm and didn't match, not even in a prelim 🙁 (I have good numbers, AOA, etc)
I have always considered a medical career in the military, and now that I still looking for off-match opportunities and evaluating many ways to get into derm, I am contemplating the possibility of going for it more than ever. Since I have no previous military experience, I would appreciate if you tell what do you think about going into the army and eventually apply to derm...? Do I still have a chance for a military medical career? At what moment I will be able to apply to derm is feasible?... Through which military program? Thank you a lot!

 

[WernickeDO]

Wow, over 9 years! That's a necro-bump. Is it a record?

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

I am a senior medical student who applyied to derm and didn't match, not even in a prelim 🙁 (I have good numbers, AOA, etc)
I have always considered a medical career in the military, and now that I still looking for off-match opportunities and evaluating many ways to get into derm, I am contemplating the possibility of going for it more than ever. Since I have no previous military experience, I would appreciate if you tell what do you think about going into the army and eventually apply to derm...? Do I still have a chance for a military medical career? At what moment I will be able to apply to derm is feasible?... Through which military program? Thank you a lot!

For all practical purposes you will need to complete an internship and be fully licensed (by the state of your choosing) as a physician before you can apply to serve as a physician in the military. Your syntax suggests that you are not a native English speaker. If you are not a US citizen, you would likely have to enter through the MAVNI program, in which case an internship will not suffice and you would likely need to be fully boarded in a medical specialty.

If you are successful in joining the military after internship, you will likely be assigned to be a general medical officer (GMO) which is a position unique to the military where you will serve as a PCP for military units. These assignments generally last 2 years, and at the conclusion of this assignment you would be eligible to apply to match into one of the military's dermatology residencies.

While it is possible to match to a dermatology residency in this manner it is unlikely and I would not recommend it. The majority of military dermatologists match out of medical school, and the few that match from other medical specialties and GMO assignments are almost always known entities or have some other special "in" with the program. Your inability to match into a prelim internship belies a competitive dermatology residency application. If you don't match to a military dermatology residency you will still be stuck with your military commitment and will be unable to apply for civilian derm spots until your military commitment is completed, and you will still be subject to the military's command structure.

Get into a civilian IM internship and apply for a civilian derm spot after completing internship.