HPSP/GMO question

[tragicallyhip'n]

If you are assigned to a Navy GMO year immediately following medical school, does this count as one year of your payback? Would this mean that you only owe 3 years following residency? Thanks for your help.

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[USAF MD '05]

Nope- Intern year, you neither pay back or incur additional time. You still owe 4. Hope this helps, Steve

 

[qqq]

Nope- Intern year, you neither pay back or incur additional time. You still owe 4. Hope this helps, Steve

I think he meant after intern year. i.e. grad from med school, do your 1 year intern and then do a GMO tour--in which case the gmo tour counts as payback so if you did 1 year gmo then yes you would owe 3 years follwoing residency. GMO counts towards your commitment. some people never do residency and just do gmo after intern. then they get out of the military and do their residency.

 

[kedhegard]

What are the ups and downs of doing a GMO? Particulary if you are married...are you pretty much guaranteed to be separated from your family? I've heard that you could take them with you depending on where you go.

Has anyone here done or heard about doing a GMO tour (for the Army) in Europe? I would really like to go back over there, but I'd like my family to go as well.

Thanks.

 

[ishii123]

If you are assigned to a Navy GMO year immediately following medical school, does this count as one year of your payback? Would this mean that you only owe 3 years following residency? Thanks for your help.

Here is a short glimpse of my life as a Navy flight surgeon (FS) :
-- This is me flying straight and level in a F/A-18 Hornet
-- This is me after completing ACM and high G manuevers in a F/A-18 Hornet
-- This is me at a pre-flight and post-flight briefs
-- This is me dealing with collateral duties, admin duties, and lazy corpsmen
-- This is my medical knowledge the longer and longer I stay a FS (aka "flying high GMO")
-- This is me going to Iraq or Afghanistan
-- But then I realize I am not with the Marines or Army at the front lines with a 60 pound pack on, wearing full MOPP gear, and getting shot at. I'm a FS on a protected carrier, hanging out at the ready room, out at sea


SUMMARY: Life is fun a flight surgeon, especially if your single...but after your 1st tour, it's time to go to residency because you become "stupidier" (is that a word?) with each passing day... And oh yeah, expect to deploy...You will

P.S. -- I LOVE EMOTICONS

 

[qqq]

stupider would be closer i think

 

[helo doc]

I agree with ishii123 - Navy flight surgeon jobs are generally better than the garden variety GMO jobs. Not all FS jobs are high speed, low drag however. There are several FS billets at training wings that involve no deployments and a more stable lifestyle. The drawback is that these jobs tend to be more "boring".

With regards to payback obligation, remember you'll accrue additional obligation for any residency you do. Example, owe four years out of med school. Internship - neutral time. Three year FS, GMO tour. You still owe 1 year. Three or four years of residency. Now you owe another 3 or 4 years. Suddenly you've got 10 - 12 years in the Navy, you're watching your peers in the civilian world make 1.5 to 3 times as much as you and not worry about the possibility of deployments. Then you find yourself returning to this forum to spew venom to the general audience on how you should have done your initial obligation and gotten out. Or, you fall in love with the military medical system, stay in for 28 years and retire as a two-star admiral. Either way, it's not just a job, it's an indenture (oops, I mean adventure).