ihs experiences??

[Roadrunner]

There's obviously not a lot of activity on this forum, but I'll post anyway. Does anyone have experience working with IHS either as a student or as a physician? I have some interest in working for IHS in the future but I still need to learn more. I'd be curious to hear about your experience.

I've worked with one doc who was with IHS for >20years and really enjoyed her work. She had a hard time leaving in the end but wanted a new career setting. Another doc I know personally worked for IHS for about 4 years and never liked it--it just wasn't a good fit for him and I never really understood why.

What have you experienced or heard about IHS??

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[wook]

Please let me know if you hear anything else about this, as I too would be interested in learning more about people's experiences.



Wook

 

[therealoc]

Hi, did an IHS rotation as a medical student. Saw many types of doctors (family practice, im, peds, ob/gyn, surgery, anesthesia, neurology, etc). Seemed to be 3 categories of people:

1) locum tenems--young doctors/nurses/PAs traveling the country, wanted interesting work for a few months

2) IHS loan payback--young doctors working for IHS for a few years to pay back loans and do public service. Unfortunately most of these seem to leave after their commitment is done (lots of patients would comment on the high turnover of doctors).

3) long-termers--people who enjoyed working with underserved populations and liked living in a more rural area/having access to tons of outdoors activities and getting government benefits (laid back hours, "hardship" bonuses for living in the boonies, retirement packages, housing).

Definitely recommend a rotation as a student or resident to see what it's like and to get exposure to a different culture (living on the "rez" was honestly like living in a different country in many ways). You see lots of chronic diseases, limited adherence to meds, trauma, mental health issues, alternative/complementary medical therapies, etc. Patients are usually incredibly grateful and the quality of care was impressive for such a resource-limited setting. It seems like a great way to pay back loans and make a career out of public service too if you like the outdoors and don't mind not living in a big city. The doctors would have a great time going on hiking/skiing trips on the weekends, visiting nearby national parks or cities, etc.

 

[inthedumps]

Did you ever see residents rotating at the IHS sites when you were a student there? I'd be interested in doing an elective rotation with IHS as a sort of try-out experience. I'm interested in working for them for a few years maybe, but it would really be jumping in head first to not have a clinical experience at an IHS site first.

 

[f_w]

Plusses
- no malpractice issues (liability capped at 250k total, keeps the ambulance chasers away).
- 9-5 jobs. If you don't have an IHS hospital to cover often no call
- little insurance hassles (no insurance, no hassle)
- you can make a difference. you are IT for most of your patients.

Minusses
- income based on goverment payscale. With the benefits such as thrift savings thrown in it is decent money if you are in primary care. for specialists it is plain depressing.
- very limited resources, constant battles getting your patients seen by consultants
- day to day exposure to one of the most depressing aspects of american contemporary society.

(living on the "rez" was honestly like living in a different country in many ways).

Well, lots of your patients will argue that you ARE living in a different country.