Is it possible to join the Navy or Air Force after I've done a civilian residency?

[GunnerBMS]

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I am interested in getting aerospace medicine training because I want to apply to be an astronaut. It seems like the only real shot I would have in getting this training would be if I joined the Navy or Air Force(there are civilian programs but they are very small and, I assume, competitive). I do not have any other reason that I would want to join the military. I just matched into a civilian residency in emergency medicine. Does anyone have any tips on how I could go about getting this training? How would I join the military? What kinds of things would I need to do to secure this kind of training? I appreciate any advice or comments on my question and situation.

 

[pgg]

Well that's a new one for this forum.

Yes, it's possible to join after residency. Either via FAP or direct accession. FAP joins are limited by the perceived needs of the service at the time, but direct joins are always welcomed.

The space program, as you can imagine is ultra competitive. I'm not sure how someone joining the military as late as after residency could expect to compete with people who've been on that track within the military for a decade+. I don't know much about it beyond what a friend/colleague has told me, but he is supremely qualified, and hasn't made it.

If you're shying away from civilian options because they're competitive, surely you don't have the right stuff.

Were it me, I wouldn't join if that was the ONLY reason I was interested in being in the military. Particularly since the life of ER docs in the military seems to sort of suck, and you wouldn't even be eligible to apply for that aerospace med training until you'd completed an initial staff tour. And then you'd be competing for that training with people with the same starry eyed vision as you, except a stronger military background.

The odds are against you, but hey, I guess the odds are against anyone who wants to be an astronaut. Good luck. Maybe Elon Musk will be hiring soon.

 

[sonofva]

Before you start going down this road, you should try to talk with a military flight surgeon. I know that could prove challenging. However, medical issues are the biggest reason people get disqualified from military aviation service. Military requirements are more stringent than the FAA. I would just hate for you to get hopes up or put together any kind of packet/sign contracts, only to find out you can't fly for medical reasons.


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[Ziehl-Neelsen]

If you're shying away from civilian options because they're competitive, surely you don't have the right stuff.

HaHaHaHaHa! This bon mot could not go unrecognized.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

 

[Cooperd0g]

sonofva is correct, you need to know if you would even be medically qualified or else you would just be wasting effort. Assuming you can be physically qualified, your best bet would likely be to join the Navy via FAP or direct after you finished residency. If you did direct you could join on the condition of being a flight doc and go right to flight surgeon training. After a tour as a fight doc you would be eligible for the Residency in Aerospace Medicine. The RAM program in Pensacola works very closely with NASA so making contacts and stuff.

Another thing to keep in mind is to apply to NASA at their next application cycle. Historically their cycles are every five years and last year was the most recent window, so next one around 2020. You can actually apply before you think you are qualified. Kind of like many things, applying early shows an early interest. It does not hurt you to apply early.

You could apply for the Aeromedical Dual Designator program once you are a flight doc. This would put you through full flight training as well. While you would never be a pilot/doc who becomes a NASA pilot (which they don't really have a need for now anyway) it can go a long way in adding to your credentials. While they hadn't taken anyone from the physician side in close to a decade or more I understand that someone was taken this past year.

Yup, it is a long shot, but you just need to figure it out what gives you the best possible path and go for it understanding that the chances remain slim. If you want to message me directly I can give you more detail as to how/why I know this is the best path to getting to astronaut from where you are now.

 

[deuist]

You can join the military at any time, during residency, or as an attending. Once you have worked a few years as a flight physician in the military, you can then apply for residency in aerospace medicine. At the end of it all, you will be a dual boarded physician in emergency medicine and aerospace medicine – with little expertise in the former.

That being said, that's all a terrible idea if your goal is to become a NASA astronaut. If you look at the qualifications that came out this past fall for astronaut candidates, nowhere was an aerospace medicine residency listed as a necessary qualification for doctors. Given how competitive NASA is, the more likely scenario is that you would languish in a military treatment facility while losing your skills and kicking yourself for ever joining. If your goal is really to work for NASA in any capacity, then you still would not need an aerospace medicine residency program has a substantial number of its flight surgeons come from other specialties.

As for the pilot/physician program, I get an email every year requesting doctors apply for the program. I'm not sure that it is necessarily "competitive," but there are stringent requirements that most doctors simply aren't going to meet. For example, I think that you need two years of experience as a flight surgeon and must be under the age of 30 before starting flight training – qualifications that many residency trained/board-certified physicians are not going to have.