All Branch Topic (ABT) .

[deleted1015759]

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[Homunculus]

Would you recommend I serve in the military after civilian med school/residency?
Do physicians get more say in where/when they PCS than other officers?
Is it worth gambling on how the DHA may cut residency slots/options?
Should I even care about residency options when I have no clue what I want to do yet?

would not go to USUHS given your concerns and stick w/ civilian and see how the DHA plays out (or if USUHS even survives-- it's on the chopping block, too)

yes. but only because there are limited slots they can go. which can also hurt you if some people homestead at your preferred duty location.

no.

yes.

--your friendly neighborhood will take that extra money you don't care for caveman

 

[HighPriest]

Agree with Homunculus. USUHS is good. It's not so good that you should take a huge gamble when you have other options available. Not sure what your actual issue is with HPSP. USUHS certainly gets a bigger military experience up front, but HPSP has more military experience than most guys who went straight in to the reserves. In many cases, I don't think you could tell a USUHS doc from an HPSP doc just based upon their military bearing (assuming they're both equally interested in actually being in the military). All that being said, reserves after is an even better option because you can decide exactly what you want to do with your life and then get involved with the military later.
You should definitely be worried about residency options if the primary concern is whether or not your choices will be limited by factors outside of your control. You may end up loving urology and then be told that you can't do it because it simply isn't an option for AD docs. (urology, by the way, is a surgical field). the fact is that no one at your stage has any idea what they want to do when they finish med school. Most think that they do, none actually do. Almost everyone changes their mind during medical school. So it simply isn't safe to say "As a premed student, I know I want to do a bucket 1 specialty." You don't know. Trust me. I know you feel deep in your gut that you do, but it simply isn't so.

 

[DrMetal]

*Worried at the limited residency and fellowship choices/slots in the Air Force.

I commend you for doing your homework. Why every pre-med doesn't do such research--in this decade, plenty of resources available--is beyond me.

Then don't go to USUHS. Joining the military restricts your freedom, in many ways (professionally and personally). If you're not ok with that, then don't join a voluntary force. Not yet at least. You can always join later, after med school/residency, if you'd like. Think about the reserves too, good way to serve without the full time AD commitment. One could make the argument that most of us should be reservists!

 

[HighPriest]

Shame on whoever does the web design and marketing for this stuff.

yeah it's almost as if they have something to hide. like they might benefit from being less than genuine.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Your wife would have to accept the possibility of either a many year separation or not being a physician if you join

 

[DeadCactus]

I'm generally a proponent of the Reserve/Guard over any of the active duty options. Your scenario seems like a particularly good option for that route. Life is going to be challenging enough trying to balance the competing career needs of a two professional marriage. Adding a 13-15 year marriage to the military is only going to make that drastically more challenging. Even HPSP would pose some real challenges to your marriage. The Guard or Reserve will let you serve, do some cool things, but maintain a flexible and stable home life that accommodates your wife's professional needs.

 

[DeadCactus]

I would argue a PhD makes things much more difficult. An MD is a set timeline with a clear path forward and even significant sacrifices in career development still result in a well paying, successful career in any part of the country. A PhD has no clear end-point, has a much more competitive job market, and often requires the freedom to pursue job and development opportunities where they arise if you want a career that actually was worth the struggle of a PhD.

Loan repayment, stipends, etc are nice perks if they align with what you want anyway. Overall, they're a scam. They play off of premed and medical students irrational fears of smart debt and sucker them into committing to something years away with minimal insight to make the decision. Just take the loans, go to cheaper schools in low cost of living areas, finish your training, and then let people throw money at you to live in undesirable places. There is no benefit to committing now other than getting rid of the artificial stress around debt. People flooding themselves with debt to buy luxury goods or unmarketable degrees has created an unnecessary anxiety around making a sound investment in something like a medical education. Be smart, don't go to an expensive medical school in a high cost of living area and then work in a low paying specialty in a high cost of living area, but don't be scared into making an unnecessary commitment that can only hurt you.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I've been lurking on this forum for awhile. Checked the guides, google searched, etc etc. Under the metric ton of information, most of my questions have been answered and some are pretty ancient and (might be) unreliable at this point. I would just like to talk to and interact with real people about this, so apologies if some of the questions are redundant.

My life story:

*I come from a long line of doctors and soldiers/airmen/sailors. My family + wife have been largely encouraging of joining and all of my role models are in the military, especially my granddad who was a Navy Ortho ages ago. I'm very traditional and would like to "carry on the torch".
*Have been accepted to USUHS Air Force and a handful of decent civilian MD schools.
*Enamored with the quality of USUHS students/staff/location and its unique education.
*Not interested in HPSP. Would rather get the full experience/prep from USUHS or go totally civilian (and maybe do reserves after civ residency).
*Worried at the limited residency and fellowship choices/slots in the Air Force. However, going into medical school with an open mind of what specialty I want to do.
*Really enjoy path, urology, radiology, EM, clinical genetics, psych, metabolism IM, Infectious disease IM - anything high tech.
*Generally uninterested in most surgery and OBGYN, but again, keeping an open mind.
*Never cared much for money. My wife and I don't care much for material objects and just want enough to travel twice a year, everything else is just gravy.
*I understand the military as a whole has its share of frustrations with ranking/EMR/deployments/bad duty stations/etc from reading here and, generally, I'm alright with it. I'm a generally happy person and you could put me anywhere, and I'll find a way to enjoy myself.

The biggest catch is my wife wants to pursue either a PhD or MD at a civilian institution in probably two years. I'm worried the military will move me around so much that staying close distance will be impossible and I feel like that would be a marriage ender for just about anyone.

My questions:

Would you recommend I serve in the military after civilian med school/residency?
Do physicians get more say in where/when they PCS than other officers?
Is it worth gambling on how the DHA may cut residency slots/options?
Should I even care about residency options when I have no clue what I want to do yet?

I recommend you do neither HPSP nor USUHS nor any other program that commits you to military service before completing your residency training. Going an all-civilian route gives you the greatest freedom and greatest opportunity to match into residency in time with your medical school cohort with no risk of delays for GMO duty. Many military residencies are fine, but your choices and the range of program quality will be greater, and in many cases vastly greater in the civilian sector. Your options to do a fellowship without delay or needless interference will also be greater. There is nothing especially important or valuable to the military aspect of either HPSP or USUHS. The academic experience is civilian (obviously) in HPSP and comparable to a good (but not great) civilian university at USUHS. If you want a military experience when you are trained, you will have opportunities. The advantage you will also have is that you will know your worth better and you will not be subject to the caprice of an often indifferent and frequently perverse bureaucracy to secure something as essential to your future as your training.

I recommend you should never put something as important as the timing of or your choice of training into the hands of an organization like the military services. The military medical apparatus has more than you at interest, and your well being is not their priority. No one will look after your interests as concerns your training better than you will.