Interview coming at USUHS, Army or Navy?

[Razgriz47]

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I am interviewing at USUHS in October, and need help in ranking the services. Originally, I wanted to be a doctor in the special forces so I could help tend to some of the most badass people in the military (I know I won't be kicking doors down and shooting people, that's their job). Because of this, Army was my number one choice (also because my dad was in the Army). Also, I was planning on specializing in Emergency Medicine (I've shadowed in various dept, and EM was the only one that held my interest. My attention span is too damn short to do any surgical specialty).

However, the Navy has the best locations for bases. Knowing my luck, if I chose the Army, I would get stationed in the middle of nowhere. However, not so sure how well I'd do being stuck on a ship for months at a time (unless I opt for a Marine billet so I could hunker down with those guys).

I am staying away from the Air Force due to the number of negative posts I've seen on this site. Even though the whole Unified Medical Command is coming into being, I'd still rather not take my chances with the AF, and their bases are even further isolated than the Army.

Ideally, I would love to live near the coast, or in Europe. How hard is it to request to be stationed in a selection of locations? I'd assume I'd have to kiss ass to superiors, is it even possible?

I'd definitely love advice from attending military physicians who have experienced all the pros and cons of milmed, and from anyone who is or went to USUHS! PM me if you would like.

Thanks!

 

[Navy Flight Doc]

So the only caveat to what I've said in my PMs is that you want to do ER. I'm sure others will speak up, but it seems like you'll have a better time as an ER doc in either Army or AF (Navy doesn't have any trauma centers). I imagine the training is similar since the Navy will send you to trauma centers for your trauma experience, but your job in the Navy won't involve a lot of trauma (while you're stateside, anyway. TONS of it if/when you deploy). ER, however, does tend to deploy a bit. I do think, though, that, much like college, you may decide that your heart lies in a very different direction than when you started. (My years in EMS led me to think I'd want ER, but not so....) You'll probably get more and better exposure to specialties as a med student than you'd be able to get by shadowing.

By the way, the best (and smartest) ER doc I ever met was an Air Force doc from Wright Patt on deployment in Afghanistan. I have lots of satisfied AF friends and colleagues.

But I still say Go Navy. 🙂