How difficult is Navy flight surgeon training and what is the training like?

[Konigstiger]

When I first signed up for military medicine, my goal was to become a flight surgeon, do my four years, and then get out. However, I didn't really look too much into what the actual process entailed in terms of training, and now that I have, it seems a lot harder than I thought it would be. So from what I've read, it looks like flight surgeons have to go through the same API/NIFE as the actual pilots do. My main issue with this is the water survival training... Although I can swim, I greatly overestimated by overall abilities in the water (yes, I know I am dumb for this), and I highly doubt I'll be able to do 80 laps in the pool or complete the helo dunker while blindfolded. For anyone here who has been a flight surgeon, did you really have to do all this same training as the pilots? I was hoping it would be easier since we don't actually get to do any of the cool things they do like fly the plane...

Would I just be better off doing another type of OMO? The fleet marine medical officer seems like something I would like, but I've always had more of an interest in aviation. I would appreciate hearing from anyone familiar with flight surgery and its training pipeline so I could get a better understanding of things.

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[orbitsurgMD]

When I first signed up for military medicine, my goal was to become a flight surgeon, do my four years, and then get out. However, I didn't really look too much into what the actual process entailed in terms of training, and now that I have, it seems a lot harder than I thought it would be. So from what I've read, it looks like flight surgeons have to go through the same API/NIFE as the actual pilots do. My main issue with this is the water survival training... Although I can swim, I greatly overestimated by overall abilities in the water (yes, I know I am dumb for this), and I highly doubt I'll be able to do 80 laps in the pool or complete the helo dunker while blindfolded. For anyone here who has been a flight surgeon, did you really have to do all this same training as the pilots? I was hoping it would be easier since we don't actually get to do any of the cool things they do like fly the plane...

Would I just be better off doing another type of OMO? The fleet marine medical officer seems like something I would like, but I've always had more of an interest in aviation. I would appreciate hearing from anyone familiar with flight surgery and its training pipeline so I could get a better understanding of things.

The Dilbert Dunker and helo dunker are done in sequence, first without blindfold then after with. It isn't that bad. You will be instructed to grab onto the airframe as a reference/ egress orientation point before immersion. A diver is present in the pool during the exercises. They go out of their way to make it safe. Same for the parachute water egress in the bay. The pool swim requires drownproofing demonstration and a pool length underwater swim. The trick with that is a smooth shallow glide to the bottom of the pool at the lane midpoint followed by a smooth shallow glide to the surface at the end, with no unnecessary movements. 80 laps might require a few weeks of pool training, but I think you can rest. There is a land survival segment, a morning at the range (pistol, they still had old .38 Spl. S&W model 10s--revolvers-- they must have semiautos by now, even if they are left over Beretta 96s), ridiculous group marching in uniform (for some, the flight surgeon course is also their OCS.)

At least at one point, if your scheduling was favorable and the weather was cooperating, you could get to 14 fam flights which the last was a true solo flight. The Navy giving you a multi-million-dollar fully-aerobatic turboprop with retractable landing gear and a flight plan to take out and bring back (VFR, of course, but still.)

 

[pawprint]

I can give you a more up to date version since I went through flight school in the last few years:

This is the basic layout:
You’ll go through approximately 8 weeks of “flight surgery” school, which is different specialties teaching for a couple weeks on aviation medicine. You’ll take tests at the end of each segment, that are pretty easy tests. All multiple choice.

Once you finish that portion, you’ll move on to the physical tests which involves a PRT and swim qual. It’s also not difficult. You’ll need to run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes max (which is more difficult than the normal PRT time). For the swim, We had some bad swimmers in my class and they got through it. Before starting the first portion above, your leadership will identify anyone who thinks they are weak swimmers and they will help prepare you for this over those 8 weeks. You’ll swim a mile in your flight suit (no boots), which you’ll train for and isn’t as hard as it sounds. If you have to remediate, you’ll remediate it until you pass. Same thing with the helo dunker. Youll have to do it 5 different times, each in a different seat of the dunker and sometimes with “black out goggles” on. It’s really not that hard, I hated it but you do enough practice that once you are in it, it’s easy to get out.

Once you pass that, you’ll move onto ground school called API or NIFE. you go through the API/NIFE ground school portion with pilot/NFO students and are treated the same as them. It’s not hard, you’ll form study groups and pass everything without any issue. If you fail a test, you just retake it a couple days later. It’s not harder than anything you did in med school, so you’ll be fine.

After passing ground school, you’ll move onto the flight portion. It’s split into fixed wing and rotary wing and can be done in either order being first (I did rotary first). You’ll do a few sims (no expectation to pass, you just have fun in them). After that you’ll get about 4 flights in the T-6 Texan ii, and 6 flights in the helicopter trainer. You can do whatever you want in either, with as much or as little stick time as you want. You will not be anywhere close to being able to “solo” either aircraft. Your flights are just for “exposure”.

After that, you’ll go back to NAMI and do some casevac training, and then officially graduate with your wings.

If at any point you get medically or physically disqualified, you’ll be certified as an AME (aeromedical examiner) instead of a flight surgeon. AME’s do the exact same job as flight surgeons, except they can’t fly (and don’t wear flight surgeon wings). But they can do flight physicals and are assigned to squadrons the same. My guess is we will have a lot more AME’s in the future instead of flight surgeons, since the actual flight training continues to get shorter and shorter.

Hope that helps!