MD student with Navy Officer SO- advice needed

[CES5]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello all,

I am about to matriculate into med school this fall and I was just wondering if anyone could provide any insight or tips for me going forward. My S.O. and I have been together for roughly two years now and he is someone I would love to spend the rest of my life with. However, I am going to be attending medical school while he is going to flight school. He is hoping to use the pension package and spend his 20 years in the military. I didn't know if there was anyone out there who had experience dating a military officer while they were in medical school and then subsequently their experiences after medical school. I know there will be lots of moving around (roughly every 3 years) with his job. Do y'all have any pointers on how to maintain career aspirations while also balancing a healthy relationship? I figure medical school will be the start of a long journey so any tips for things that could be done now/things to be kept in mind for the future would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Raney Schauer]

LMGTFY

TYPICAL CAREER PATH TIMING

THE TYPICAL CAREER PATH OF A NAVY FIGHTER PILOT: UPDATED.

Match up the typical career progression of a physician timeline-wise and draw your own conclusions because everybody's different.

 

[mvenus929]

Navy people seem to move around less than the other branches— likely because there are fewer naval bases. You should figure out quickly if the specialty you are interested in has residencies in Norfolk, Va (EVMS) or San Diego, though, because those are the most likely places stateside your SO will be stationed. And you should probably do aways there in fourth year.

(I did residency at EVMS and several of my coresidents were married to naval officers. They all made it work, though it was hard during deployment for those with kids).

 

[deleted480308]

Be prepared to be separated geographically or have your job status rebooted an innopportune times

 

[Gastrapathy]

The old expression is: If the Navy wanted him to have a wife, they would have put one in his sea bag.

Seriously, the early phases of both of your careers are very inflexible. Your career will never be a factor that big Navy will consider in his billeting. If he stays long enough to be a senior officer, that can be even more restrictive. Particularly if you go overseas, there may be no option for you to practice. My wife would tell you that all of this plus deployment while we had little kids was very bad for her career. That doesn’t mean she’s unhappy but it’s not the path she planned.

That said, if it’s worth it to you then so be it. You should try to like a shift work hospital based specialty where you don’t have to create and build a practice. He may decide not to stay 20. Most do.

 

[BunnyMan17]

Hey OP, I'm a medical student (and naval officer) dating another medical student (also naval officer). I've also got a friend in my class who's SO is currently at flight school. We're all over the country right now so that's not fun but you make it work.
I can only speak from personal experience and conversations I've had with the married military docs but as long as there is a MTF or clinic where your SO is stationed, they say finding a job as a GS or contractor physician isn't that hard. Especially once you get the security clearance and assorted paper work completed. Although this does mean less career building per say as you'd be moving every 2-5 years. They main advice they consistently give is to know no timing is perfect and most things will work out if you expect them to, so just make a decision and stick with it.

Another option to consider is HPSP or commissioning post graduation. Once you do that you can put in to co-locate. Residency may be a little tricky but it's doable. Everything is "needs of the Navy" but I've known several physicians that joined like this solely to stay with their husband/wife and still be able to build a career. It's not easy, especially if you get deployed, but it worked out for them.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Finding a job as a GS or contractor can be easy to impossible. Joining will not guarantee co-locating.