Family Physicians?

[nubbey24]

I just got an interview offer from USUHS, and honestly am very excited about it. I am mostly interested in Family Medicine, and am drawn to the military form of medicine because I am also interested in gaining the extra knowledge of field medicine. My question is whether some of you who have experience with military medicine think that this trend for care to be crummy and physicians to be ill prepared also translates into primary care. It seems like most of the cases everyone is speaking of are surgical or emergency room physicians. I am just curious because this is obviously going to be a huge decision for me. Thank you for responding.

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[st0rmin]

I just got an interview offer from USUHS, and honestly am very excited about it. I am mostly interested in Family Medicine, and am drawn to the military form of medicine because I am also interested in gaining the extra knowledge of field medicine. My question is whether some of you who have experience with military medicine think that this trend for care to be crummy and physicians to be ill prepared also translates into primary care. It seems like most of the cases everyone is speaking of are surgical or emergency room physicians. I am just curious because this is obviously going to be a huge decision for me. Thank you for responding.

Congrats on your interview offer. It's an exciting time. As far as your question, I would reread the posts here. A lot of the negative stuff is coming from primary care (ie. Family Medicine physicians) and some from the surgeons, and more recently an anesthesiologist(s?). I believe the training you will receive will be comparable to most civilian programs, after that, people's experiences vary (as seen on this forum). Good luck.

 

[USAFdoc]

I just got an interview offer from USUHS, and honestly am very excited about it. I am mostly interested in Family Medicine, and am drawn to the military form of medicine because I am also interested in gaining the extra knowledge of field medicine. My question is whether some of you who have experience with military medicine think that this trend for care to be crummy and physicians to be ill prepared also translates into primary care. It seems like most of the cases everyone is speaking of are surgical or emergency room physicians. I am just curious because this is obviously going to be a huge decision for me. Thank you for responding.

I was a USAF Family Doc, and in my opinion, you should stay clear of military Primary care at this point. You may read my "AVOID MILITARY MED" thread which I began posting on while I was active duty. You may also want to look at the USAFP web site. This is the official military medicine web site (so realize it will be pro-military) but even still, look back over the past few years of issues, specifically editorial, and each services rep pages. They describe mass undermanning, and describe the clinics as "war zones", which, while over the top, is quite accurate.

Primary care in the military world has all the challenges of civilian Primary care with the added problems of lack of support staff, lack of trained support staff (you will have an 18 yo as your "nurse"), lack of supportive admin, lack of charts, your own lack of experience to start, you covering for other docs deployed on top of your own patients, patient panel sizes in reality of 2000-3000+, and NUMEROUS other duties and restrictions that will compromise the care of your patients and the quality of life for you, your family, and your staff. The $$$ for doing a single tour and then getting out is not terrible, but you probably are not thinking $$ if you are thinking military primary care. Why start a career that you will wish was over 3 months into your first tour of duty? Why work for an organization that really could care less about you, quality, excellence etc........todays military medicine is really about METRICS, MONEY and Promotion....sad but true. Yesterdays USAF core values are todays lip service. Yes, our troops need docs, but nobody (including you)needs todays military healthcare plan.

 

[NavyFP]

There is more than a shread of truth in what USAFdoc says about the situation in Family Practice in the military.

That said, our training programs are top notch. You will learn to do more procedures and you still get to do OB as a staff doc. (I still love catching babies) Navy has great sites for FP and Army has Tripler (Hawaii) and Madigan (Tacoma).

There are hassles in the military, amount of support staff could be better. I have not found them to reach the level I must get out. I love what I do and see no reason to change.

 

[USAFdoc]

There is more than a shread of truth in what USAFdoc says about the situation in Family Practice in the military.

That said, our training programs are top notch. You will learn to do more procedures and you still get to do OB as a staff doc. (I still love catching babies) Navy has great sites for FP and Army has Tripler (Hawaii) and Madigan (Tacoma).

There are hassles in the military, amount of support staff could be better. I have not found them to reach the level I must get out. I love what I do and see no reason to change.

1) "They" (military problems) did reach the level at my USAF base where separation/divorce was the only answer....."irreconcilable differences" ie....I want excellence integrity and service (USAF Core Values) and the USAF does not.

2) There is a shred of truth in that NavyFP finds some enjoyment in his job. I miss taking care of the troops, wearing the uniform, working with other docs that joined the military for the same reasons I did (then we all left the military for the same reasons; see AVOID MILITARY medicine thread )

3) The FP clerkship I did in med school at a USAF base (TRAVIS) in 1995 was so good, I went FP. Things I hear have changed since that time at TRAVIS.