Joining the Navy as an attending neonatologist

[The_Otter]

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I browsed studentdoctor back when I was a wee pre-med. Back then, I was interested in attending the naval academy or ROTC and becoming a flight surgeon. My main goal was ultimately to become a doctor, so I listened to your guys' advice and went the civilian route.

Here I am years later, finished with pediatrics residency and currently a fellow in neonatology. I think you guys were right, as it would've have been harder for me to get into pediatrics through the military match.

Part of me still has a strong desire to serve in the military. What is the process like joining as an attending? Are there any loan repayment programs available for attendings? What would the pay be like?

 

[DrMetal]

I browsed studentdoctor back when I was a wee pre-med. Back then, I was interested in attending the naval academy or ROTC and becoming a flight surgeon. My main goal was ultimately to become a doctor, so I listened to your guys' advice and went the civilian route.

Here I am years later, finished with pediatrics residency and currently a fellow in neonatology. I think you guys were right, as it would've have been harder for me to get into pediatrics through the military match.

Part of me still has a strong desire to serve in the military. What is the process like joining as an attending? Are there any loan repayment programs available for attendings? What would the pay be like?

I think there are loan repayment programs, or at least signing bonuses. Talk to a recruiter to get the latest, Bring back what he tells you and post here, we can help sanity check it. (A lot of this has changed in the past 2-3 years post COVID . . . we've become rather desperate for physicians, particularly in the Navy, manned at some now 60%).

NICU would be the obvious place to put you, but be prepared to play General Peds as well.

 

[militaryPHYS]

Large medcens are specifically hiring neonatologists to maintain level III+ given the importance of that service at the place of delivery plus high cost of care in network. Many new authorizations for hire should be out there given the growth environment DHA is in right now.

Agree that you can get our take on what’s available on USA jobs. A lot of times the advertised salary doesn’t include important bonuses.

 

[comp1]

Usajobs.gov should primarily be used to find contact info to get real data. The website will not, in most cases, accurately reflect salary (fairly uniformly higher than posted) or current openings. It is not designed for physician jobs, to say the least.

 

[DeadCactus]

What is it you want to get out of your experience? It's hard for me to imagine anything a pediatric subspecialist would want out of serving that isn't better obtained as a civilian contractor or through the Reserve/Guard.