How competitive is mil training in civilian world?

[TechToDoc]

I've done searches and did not find what I was looking for, so forgive me if this thread is redundant, or misplaced.

Are you happy with the training you received as a military resident?

To be clear, I AM interested in a career in the military (my husband served 6 years in the Marine Corps, so I am familiar with and enjoy military life). I am concerned that if I do my military residency and serve my time, what do I do if I decide to get out? Can I get a good civilian job with the military residency training?

I am also concerned about matching a specialty of my choosing. Right now, I am strongly interested in Pathology. If the branch I'm in doesn't want pathologists when I graduate, and they don't have path residencies available, will I be obligated to apply to other military residencies? The recruiter told me I can do any specialty I like... but he's a recruiter, so I'm a little suspicious. I've read that you get a certain number of "choices," but I don't understand if those are just choices of locations/programs or if they are actually choices of specialties. I've read the threads on military matching and deferments and I'm afraid I don't understand the process.

If anyone replies and uses acronyms, please define them the first time you bring them up. I am having trouble following a lot of threads because I'm unfamiliar with the lingo.

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[Gastrapathy]

Probably not the best strategy to insult the people you are asking for advice. The perception that all they do is hand out motrin is mostly driven by the painfully low acuity seen in the acute primary care arena. Since there are no copays, the threshold for going to the doctor is slightly lower than deciding to get a tank of gas on your way home from work. So, yes, its the patients fault.

That's not to say the system isn't flawed. It most certainly is but not in the ways that the young, healthy AD spouse perceives.

As for your questions about specialty selection, those threads come around about once a week. The answer is complex and uncertain.

Everyone gets a job when they leave the military. I'd be a lot more concerned about the civilian pathology job market, if I was you.

 

[TechToDoc]

I apologize that I was insulting, that was not my intention and was poorly put, although it was an honest concern. I certainly see your point about people heading in to the hospital without real need.
I'm embarrassed at my ignorance, but I'm glad to have asked.
Fair enough point about the civilian path market.
I've read several of the threads about matching and I honestly do not understand the process or options.

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

I guess I'm best qualified to answer your query. I start, as I always do, with the disclaimer that these are my opinions and the advice I provide is worth exactly what you paid for it...

1. Military pathology training is excellent (as is the training in many other specialties, though no other specialties I think surpass the average civilian residency to the degree pathology does). I rotated with numerous civilian residents during residency and was superior in knowledge and ability to them all (often with residents 1 or 2 years ahead of me); other residents in my program felt the same way. My first staff assignment was at a large medical center with many new attendings who had done civilian residencies at big name programs around he country. These individuals certainly had more publications to their names, but I know that my ability to practice pathology straight out of residency was superior, and I attribute this (in large part) to the training I received in residency. I feel there are many reasons for the superiority of military residencies to civilian residencies and the civilian emphasis on research plays a large part in that difference, but that is a thread for a different time and a different forum. I cannot speak for the training at Balboa as I have never worked with a pathologist who trained there, but I hear through the grapevine that it upholds these standards.

2. The civilian job market is its own deal. I know it is rougher than the job market for other specialties, but not as rough as some make it sound on the pathology board. As I tell medical students considering pathology, if you feel that you would enjoy pathology and another specialty equally, you should do the other specialty. My wife is a medicine subspecialist and is recruited by head-hunters weekly. Nobody calls to ask me if I'm interested in "work-life balance while practicing in a gorgeous community with low cost of living, great schools, tremendous outdoor activities, and access to a local major metropolitain area". That said, I cannot name a single competent ex-military pathologist who was unable to find a job after separation or retirement.

3. The Army and Navy are desperately understrengh for pathology as a specialty, and the Air Force trains too many. They cannot make you do another residency. You will rank the military residencies and deferral as you see fit. If you are a competetive applicant you will (almost assuredly) get a military or deferred spot. If you are a crappy applicant you will go to internship with a chance to reapply for the same or a different specialty. If you still don't get picked up you will serve out your commitment in GMO-land.

Now come the admonitions... Pathology as a specialty contains many "lifestylers" who want money and decent hours but do not actually love the specialty and do not want to work. The military also contains many individuals who "did it for the money" and show their resentment for the situation they find themselves in by shirking responsibiliy and doing the bare minimum until their commitment is up. If you are one of these people and end up as my resident, your life will not be pleasant. If, on the other hand, you are decently intelligent, a hard-worker, and prepared to honorably serve our country's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines (in the face of the bureaucratic nightmare that is military medicine), I will take a personal interest in making you the best pathologist you can possibly be.

Vaya con Dios.