General Surgeon Base Assignments

[FlyinGuy913]

---

Members don't see this ad.

My spouse owes some time after residency to the Air Force. I am prior service but never really interacted with medicine while I was in. What bases are taking the most general surgeons?

 

[HighPriest]

You may have to wait a while for an answer to this one. I can barely begin to answer that question for the Army, and I have no idea for the AF. It isn't that people are ignoring you.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Also, the locations where there are the most surgeons aren't necessarily the answer. The real question will be "what is the ****tiest surgery billet in the AF that people are dying to leave so that they always send the new blood there."

 

[FlyinGuy913]

Also, the locations where there are the most surgeons aren't necessarily the answer. The real question will be "what is the ****tiest surgery billet in the AF that people are dying to leave so that they always send the new blood there."

Well if I can find out if certain bases have surgeons I can answer that one. Minot? Do most of the bases have general surgeons at this point? When I was in it seemed like I was always seen by a flight surgeon but that was for basic stuff. They were everywhere though.

 

[Carcassonne]

My spouse owes some time after residency to the Air Force. I am prior service but never really interacted with medicine while I was in. What bases are taking the most general surgeons?

Places with multiple general surgeons:
Brooke Army Medical Center, i.e. SAMMC
Wright Patterson
Kessler
Travis
Nellis
Langley
Eglin (which is also Special Operations)
MacDill
US Air Force Academy
RAF Lakenheath
Landstuhl (this is an Army hospital so the number may vary)
Tinker
Bethesda/Walter Reed (this is Army/Navy territory but Air Force surgeons do get based there)
Mountain Home (two at most there)

Places with one general surgeon:
Misawa
Osan
Aviano (supposedly doesn't have to take ER call...)
UT Houston (this is a weird spot that may only go to a trauma surgeon and may not exist anymore)
Someone may go to Luke...
Maybe they still send someone to Offutt...
Maybe some people still go to Andrews (though they've been trying to shut that down for awhile...)

Places with multiple trauma surgeons, i.e. C-STARS:
SAMMC
St. Louis
Baltimore Shock Trauma
Cincinnati
Travis (this is not a C-STARS base but uses UC Davis)

Also, the locations where there are the most surgeons aren't necessarily the answer. The real question will be "what is the ****tiest surgery billet in the AF that people are dying to leave so that they always send the new blood there."

You may not want to hear that, but that's the truth. If a general surgeon can find good territory, they will plant there. The only thing that matters is what's available when your spouse gets out. What's available frequently changes, and those in charge sometimes don't know what's going on until the last minute. It's common for people to get the bottom of their rank list, since no one wants to stay at Osan or Mountain Home (barring the locations themselves, the cases are few). Being liked by the hierarchy is the most important aspect of basing. Of almost equal importance is deciding to sub-specialize. The big four (Nellis, SAMMC, Wright Patt, Travis) may have multiple slots, but these can be secured by surgical oncology, MIS, colorectal, etc. Yes, there are separate places for general surgeons, but when case loads are low, big fish eat small fish. Going into trauma surgery essentially puts someone into a different bucket of surgeons and places them at a C-STARS base. Your spouse may not be thinking of specializing, but it's a way to keep some semblance of a career in the Air Force. There are probably a few specialists in the AF who would be fine with a busy general surgery practice in the outside world compared to their current specialty job.

Everything stated above may change within a year.