Prospective Med Student

[midn]

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Hello, I have been hanging around the board for a few weeks, and been reading up on military medicine. The basic gist that I have gotten is that it is terrible due to the military's attempts to maximize efficiency by cutting staff and increasing individual work. Despite most everyone's advice not to go to military medicine, I still want to do it. Currently, I am in NROTC on scholarship for my first year and loving it. It is just great being able to put on the uniform, etc. I have come across issues with the extensive bureaucracy, but they haven't deterred me yet. I know the pay is not too great after a while, but I personally do not like having too much money anyways; I like to have enough to get by with a few things here and there. I haven't dealt with unfair leadership yet, but the situation generally seems like that if you have a problem with your management, you can approach the person if you know how to do it professionally (this probably doesn't work too well in the fleet). I want to stick with the Navy and get a medical position that would allow me to be a doctor on a submarine or a surface warfare ship or any job that would have me moving around. That's the whole reason I joined the Navy: travel around the world. From what I read here, primary care is the worst. I haven't decided what kind of doctor I wanted to be (nor do I have much idea what fields there are), but what kind of fields could land me a job on a ship or a sub and away from primary care?
I hope I don't sound too terribly naive, but any advice would be helpful.

 

[IgD]

...any advice would be helpful.

SEMPER GUMBY

Remember a true professional can perform under any situation. Always maintain a positive attitude and be flexible. Find a mentor - someone you look up to who has had a successful career and get as much advice as possible.

 

[RichL025]

No, not naive at all, you're being smart by asking questions this early in your education.

Just a side note, the recent threads about the poor state of primary care were about the Air Force, and most of the posters were quick to point that out. The Army primary care docs I met (not a large number admittedly) seemed fairly happy, but of course, cognizant that they had to put up with more BS for less pay than in the primary sector. In summary - do NOT go into military medicine for the money issues, go because you love medicine, and think you would enjoy taking care of soldiers (sailors, airmen).

From my limited knowledge of how the navy works, docs don't go aboard subs (too few men) - the larger surface warfare ships will have what are called GMOs - General Medical Officers - MDs who have graduated from one year of internship, but not a full residency. Many navy residencies practically require you to do a GMO tour before applying to them, so no matter what you eventually choose to do, you should get to try a tour as a doc on a ship.

 

[USAFdoc]

SEMPER GUMBY

Remember a true professional can perform under any situation. Always maintain a positive attitude and be flexible. Find a mentor - someone you look up to who has had a successful career and get as much advice as possible.

--good advice if you are bent on joining.
--a true professional will perform under any circumstances, however, even Michael Jordan would have lost miserably if he were the only person on the team...ie..my clinic was staffed at 20% chronically for 3 years straight, meaning we could not meet the demand, and spent 12-18 hrs a day trying to do it, and gave less than excellent care all the while. Everyone loses.
--when you do join and arrive on station, you will have to decide if you will be a "yes man" or stand up and fight for the "right thing". A difficult battle against a very large inflexible foe should you choose to fight.

good luck.

 

[militarymd]

Search and read my posts from when I joined up to SDN.

I suspect it won't make a difference for you, but you can see the Navy perspective for me....

 

[island doc]

Really want to be a GMO? Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.

 

[IgD]

Maybe the best piece of advice I can give would be to be careful what you read about the military especially in this forum.

 

[FliteSurgn]

Yes, take all this negative stuff with a grain of salt...Then when you go on active duty, you can take all that salt and pour it in your open wounds just for the fun of it. You may need someone else do the pouring though since you won't be able to see the wounds...they're usually from a lack of lubricant while being sodomized. And just forget about the reach around.

That just made me think of something. If sodomy is illegal in the eyes of the UCMJ, why aren't recruiters Court-martialed more regularly?

In all seriousness, there is good and bad in every situation. My advice...bring your own K-Y just in case. No, really, I think everyone should hear about the bad instead of just the smoke from the recruiters and yes-men. If you still want to join, great, the military will be lucky to have you. The most important thing is that you go into that decision with your eyes wide OPEN knowing about the pluses and minuses.

 

[island doc]

Yes, take all this negative stuff with a grain of salt...Then when you go on active duty, you can take all that salt and pour it in your open wounds just for the fun of it. You may need someone else do the pouring though since you won't be able to see the wounds...they're usually from a lack of lubricant while being sodomized. And just forget about the reach around.

That just made me think of something. If sodomy is illegal in the eyes of the UCMJ, why aren't recruiters Court-martialed more regularly?

In all seriousness, there is good and bad in every situation. My advice...bring your own K-Y just in case. No, really, I think everyone should hear about the bad instead of just the smoke from the recruiters and yes-men. If you still want to join, great, the military will be lucky to have you. The most important thing is that you go into that decision with your eyes wide OPEN knowing about the pluses and minuses.

I have already pointed out the anal dilating effects of AF medicine.

 

[island doc]

Yes, take all this negative stuff with a grain of salt...Then when you go on active duty, you can take all that salt and pour it in your open wounds just for the fun of it. You may need someone else do the pouring though since you won't be able to see the wounds...they're usually from a lack of lubricant while being sodomized. And just forget about the reach around.

That just made me think of something. If sodomy is illegal in the eyes of the UCMJ, why aren't recruiters Court-martialed more regularly?

In all seriousness, there is good and bad in every situation. My advice...bring your own K-Y just in case. No, really, I think everyone should hear about the bad instead of just the smoke from the recruiters and yes-men. If you still want to join, great, the military will be lucky to have you. The most important thing is that you go into that decision with your eyes wide OPEN knowing about the pluses and minuses.

I have already pointed out the anal dilating effects of AF medicine.

 

[threepeas]

Hello, I have been hanging around the board for a few weeks, and been reading up on military medicine. The basic gist that I have gotten is that it is terrible due to the military's attempts to maximize efficiency by cutting staff and increasing individual work. Despite most everyone's advice not to go to military medicine, I still want to do it. Currently, I am in NROTC on scholarship for my first year and loving it. It is just great being able to put on the uniform, etc. I have come across issues with the extensive bureaucracy, but they haven't deterred me yet. I know the pay is not too great after a while, but I personally do not like having too much money anyways; I like to have enough to get by with a few things here and there. I haven't dealt with unfair leadership yet, but the situation generally seems like that if you have a problem with your management, you can approach the person if you know how to do it professionally (this probably doesn't work too well in the fleet). I want to stick with the Navy and get a medical position that would allow me to be a doctor on a submarine or a surface warfare ship or any job that would have me moving around. That's the whole reason I joined the Navy: travel around the world. From what I read here, primary care is the worst. I haven't decided what kind of doctor I wanted to be (nor do I have much idea what fields there are), but what kind of fields could land me a job on a ship or a sub and away from primary care?
I hope I don't sound too terribly naive, but any advice would be helpful.

Remember a few things...
1. The civilian world is not much different regarding things to complain about, but because living in the civilian world is not a choice most people keep quiet.
2. We join not only to serve our country or government but most importantly to serve and treat the men and women in uniform and their families. My fellow Americans and our government piss me off sometimes, but the soldiers are always doing their duty and it is for them that I truly serve.

Not much else to offer. Everything in life is what you make of it. Take that from an much older than average med student with wife and kids who is totally stoked to wear the uniform. Serving in the military makes me want to be a better person.
Good luck in your endeavors.