Navy reserve for attendings

[dryflytrout8]

Hi everyone
Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom and advice. I'm a board certified EM doctor who is also an active researcher (have several active grants etc). I have had a long standing interest in trying to contribute to the Navy as a member of the reserves. but I don't know what the best way to do so. 5 years ago it would have been much easier as a single individual but I'm now married with a young child on the way. I've tried asking previous colleagues who have served or are reserves and will plan to reach out to a recruiter but in preparing for such a meeting, I wanted to try to do my due diligence and check out the wisdom of the crowd...and good old SDN seems like a great place to ask:

1) Are there any academic physicians who are also in the reserve who have balanced the two? have you found ways to successfully navigate the responsibilities of the reserve (drilling, annual training) with your academic responsibilities as a faculty member? (research, admin etc).
2) Does the Navy consider any unique contributions of reserve members and could any of that work be used to count for drilling, etc (for example would my research work in the ED which overlaps many topics in trauma care be seen as something useful for the military?) or in general, is the navy most interested in your ability to serve clinically above all, and that is what you'll be seen as.
3) (for emergency physicians or critical care specialty folks) Do EM attendings tend to get deployed heavily? If so, are three rough ideas on the length of deployments? I know it's ultimately up to uncle sam but any experience about general lengths of ED deployments appreciated. I think I could do 3-6 month deployments with some coordinating with my lab and dept head but 9-12 months may be tough for both professional work and personal life with my young family.
4) Lastly, what are the usual contracts for reserve members who are attendings? I'm naive and ignorant to military life so ideally would like to start with a shorter reserve contract to explore and then renew for a longer period as I understand the system better. are there such things as 2 year (or even 1 year?) reserve contracts? I'm done with my training and no longer have any med school loans so some of the enticement programs for recent grads doesn't really apply to me. My main motivation is not financial but interest in civic participation. that said, if there are there any specific incentive programs for attendings at my stage of career (10+ years out from med school), would appreciate any advice.

Thank you again for any information and guidance. really appreciate it. wishing you all a happy new year to the SDN community

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[Handsome1]

Good luck. Go into it for the right reasons. I am proud of my affiliation and would do it again but it's not easy. It's another commitment.

1) In some ways it's better to be academic. I will openly tell you that private practice jobs negatively inquired (obviously not directly) about reserve commitment. Bottomline is that time away is overhead in the private world. The academic institutions carry a mission and having you be part of that is generally positive. Talk to your chair, see what your salary wage gap policy is. Getting deployed can cost certain people hundreds of thousands of dollars. The balance comes in good colleagues and in planning stuff out in advance. ER should be easier than most specialties in this regard. Running a lab would be tough. Set up a contigency. People do it. I know people that do but something has to give right? you can't be academic man of the year, dad of the year, researcher of the year, sleep/workout, and be everyone's favorite squared away guy/gal at the NOSC.

2) Navy wants leadership. You excel in their eyes by being squared away and by taking on incremental leadership positions. There are some flexible drill options available based on command and other issues but don't bank on them. Go in with the mindset I will be there 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year and can be deployed. You won't be doing ER at drill you will be doing PHAs/computer training/some fun PT/GMTs. It can be mundane but it keeps you and the DET ready to go if necessary. And, forgive my bluntness, as long as you reach the minimum standard for providing safe emergency medicine they will not care. Some in your direct medical DET may be very excited/ask questions/work you into different things but the Navy will see you as a 0-4 (likely) ER doctor. That's it.


3) I don't know deployment cycles and they could change at any time. The DHA takeover will change things. And, you have to be prepared for all of it. Your co-workers will take call for you because you have to drill. For example, a senior partner will miss their daughter's college homecoming football game because you have Navy drill and it can't be moved. That's a real issue that has nothing to do with deployment. You have to stare at all the stuff you are worried about and say I'm ok with that (for personal reasons).

4) All contracts are 8 years but different parts of that are SELRES or IRR. The SELRES part is what you care about. Not taking a bonus would in theory reduce time I'm pretty sure. I don't have a great gouge on that so I won't send you bad information.

Good luck.

 

[dryflytrout8]

Good luck. Go into it for the right reasons. I am proud of my affiliation and would do it again but it's not easy. It's another commitment.

1) In some ways it's better to be academic. I will openly tell you that private practice jobs negatively inquired (obviously not directly) about reserve commitment. Bottomline is that time away is overhead in the private world. The academic institutions carry a mission and having you be part of that is generally positive. Talk to your chair, see what your salary wage gap policy is. Getting deployed can cost certain people hundreds of thousands of dollars. The balance comes in good colleagues and in planning stuff out in advance. ER should be easier than most specialties in this regard. Running a lab would be tough. Set up a contigency. People do it. I know people that do but something has to give right? you can't be academic man of the year, dad of the year, researcher of the year, sleep/workout, and be everyone's favorite squared away guy/gal at the NOSC.

2) Navy wants leadership. You excel in their eyes by being squared away and by taking on incremental leadership positions. There are some flexible drill options available based on command and other issues but don't bank on them. Go in with the mindset I will be there 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year and can be deployed. You won't be doing ER at drill you will be doing PHAs/computer training/some fun PT/GMTs. It can be mundane but it keeps you and the DET ready to go if necessary. And, forgive my bluntness, as long as you reach the minimum standard for providing safe emergency medicine they will not care. Some in your direct medical DET may be very excited/ask questions/work you into different things but the Navy will see you as a 0-4 (likely) ER doctor. That's it.


3) I don't know deployment cycles and they could change at any time. The DHA takeover will change things. And, you have to be prepared for all of it. Your co-workers will take call for you because you have to drill. For example, a senior partner will miss their daughter's college homecoming football game because you have Navy drill and it can't be moved. That's a real issue that has nothing to do with deployment. You have to stare at all the stuff you are worried about and say I'm ok with that (for personal reasons).

4) All contracts are 8 years but different parts of that are SELRES or IRR. The SELRES part is what you care about. Not taking a bonus would in theory reduce time I'm pretty sure. I don't have a great gouge on that so I won't send you bad information.

Good luck.

Thank you for the very helpful response!