Married docs, both on HPSP, can they choose to stay together?

[willthatsall]

So if my wife and I are both on the HPSP, graduate the same time, will the military ensure we are located together, like a couples match or something? Is there a chance they will give us GMOs apart or something bad like that? Does anyone have experience with this? Also, is one branch better than the others about considering this? We are thinking Navy, but I'm just wondering about all of them.

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[colbgw02]

The military will try to keep you together, because, in a moment of rare lucidity, someone realized that a person is more effective when they're with their spouse than without. Nothing is guaranteed, of course. If you are in different services, then one of you will probably have to switch the other's. The people I know who have done this ended up in the Army, but I don't know if that's just chance or if that gave them the best shot. The Army has the largest GME system, I believe, so theoretically I guess that would give you the best shot?????

 

[usnavdoc]

You should read MilMD's posts on family separation. The Needs of the Navy always come first. Id look at Army or AF first or stay civilian

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

Umm, the military will try to get you a joint spouse assignment, but I've seen: Luke and D-M (100 mi apart), Buckley and USAFA (60 mi apart), Ft Meade and Ft Belvoir (30 Beltway miles apart), and Laughlin and Wilford-Hall (70 + miles apart) counted as co-located "joint" assignments. So, if you are willing to commute 2+ hrs a day, you have a GREAT chance of being stationed with your spouse

 

[Mirror Form]

I haven't heard of an hpsp couples match. There might be one though. However, if there isn't, you'd be SEVERELY hampered when applying to residencies with your spouse if they are also hpsp. Due to the requirement of having to apply to at least 5 programs, one of you could easily end up at Tripler in Hawaii and the other could be at Walter Reed in DC. If one of you is not hpsp, then the non-hpsp person will have the freedom to follow the other one.

 

[Croooz]

The military assigns you to the same geographical areas but that doesn't mean you will be in the same state. Norfolk, VA and Bethesda, MD are considered to be the same geographical area...

So I would venture a guess and say that you will probably not be together during residency and you may be closer during payback.

If it's any consolation...you are not the only couple who's had to endure this. Their's solace in numbers.

 

[willthatsall]

So do you think AF or Army would give us a better chance than the Navy to be stationed together? Why is that?

 

[Croooz]

As long as you're both the same service then it's easier. It's just not really that much of a priority especially when you are both in needed fields.

Do you really have to take the HPSP? Even FAP wouldn't be that great in your situation. IMO, if family is important then do not join the military...especially both of you. It takes a very strong marriage to make it thru just about anything and you two are putting medical school, residency, and then to top it off the military. These are strikes 1, 2, & 3.

IMO to answer your original question,
"Married docs, both on HPSP, can they choose to stay together?"

The answer is no. The choice of staying together with your spouse is not one you make in the military. You choose to remain married but not whether or not you two will stay together. There are couples who do it but the ones I know didn't start as far back as medical school.

Being a physician is difficult. Being in the military is difficult. Being a physician in the military is even more difficult. When both physicians are in the military......it's getting past difficult into another realm of "suck".

 

[pgg]

So if my wife and I are both on the HPSP, graduate the same time, will the military ensure we are located together, like a couples match or something? Is there a chance they will give us GMOs apart or something bad like that? Does anyone have experience with this? Also, is one branch better than the others about considering this? We are thinking Navy, but I'm just wondering about all of them.

The military will make an effort, but nothing is guaranteed. Everything that's been said before in this thread is true.

I'll just add that some of it will depend on the two of you.

• If you're both stellar performers and/or not looking for competitive residencies, your odds of staying together are higher. The military GME system is very objective (ie, mostly rigid, point-based selection criteria, almost to a fault).
  
• If faced with GMO time, it will help to speak to the GMO detailer early, together, and with the willingness to accept less desirable billets. For example, if you both go for Navy flight surgery, you're setting yourself up for the possibility of getting assigned at different locations. But if you call the GMO detailer on December 16th and say "we'd like two billets with FSSG at Camp Lejeune / Pendleton" I guarantee you that you'll both get it.

Two other things to consider ...

Not every MTF offers residencies in every specialty. For example, if you're both Navy, and you want to do Family Practice but she wants to do Internal Medicine, you're screwed - simply because there are no Navy teaching hospitals that have both FP and IM. It sounds like you haven't started med school yet. Although you may think you're certain about your future specialty, odds are you'll change your mind. Be advised that no Navy FP program is colocated with any other residency.

Anyone who is queasy about family separation should think long and hard before taking any military scholarship. Deployments are inevitable, and with both of you in uniform, you're likely to spend significant time apart even after your GME is done.

 

[Croatalus_atrox]

Laughlin and Wilford-Hall (70 + miles apart) counted as co-located "joint" assignments. So, if you are willing to commute 2+ hrs a day, you have a GREAT chance of being stationed with your spouse

Try 150 miles apart...unless the servicemembers choose to live in Uvalde, halfway between Del Rio and San Antonio. Either one servicemember gets to spend 20+ hours per week commuting to work or both get to commute 10+ hours/week. Of course, that's considered a Joint Spouse "success" story either way by the Air Force. Nevermind that short-notice recalls are a pain in the ass, not to mention potential childcare issues...

I had no idea that the Laughlin/San Antonio Joint Spouse thing was that common, unless you and I happen to know the same people.