So much wrong with this post. The line likes doctors who behave like they do/talk like they do/go to meetings like they do. That has absolutely nothing to do with providing good medical care. If you think that there is something magical about prior service, I don't want you near my patients. As for the passive-aggressive mistreatment of a flight surgeon you witnessed, realize that he might have been standing up for what was right. You were not in the position to actually know (although every E3 thinks he has the ability to evaluate the clinical acumen of his physician).
That "weed" worked fine prior to SDN. Some of use made our decisions when there wasn't any place to do research.
You are also totally wrong about the way obligation is accrued. pgg's example is correct. Pre-GME time is concurrent with inservice post-GME time. There are countless threads on this and the Navy GME website explains it well too. But every time someone posts something incorrect, it confuses that many more people. Obligation isn't something to disagree about, there is a right and a wrong answer. pgg was right.
There is no magic in prior service, I never said that it makes anyone a better doctor. The line likes former line officers who went medical corps. That is what I wrote and that is true. They tend to have first hand experience in what their profession is all about and requires as many of them are highly physical in nature. So it kind of helps with them specifically, but probably does not add value to the rest of the base patient population. I'm willing to bet that enlisted Marines and SEALs also like prior enlisted Marines and SEALs because they understand what they are going through. I never said it makes them better doctors, but it might make them more aware of their issues.
The "passive aggressive" treatment of the flight surgeon you referenced wasn't passive aggressive at all. It was full on aggressive. He was brought in to see the CO of the unit, who was a 2 star, and told that he was no longer going to be allowed to fly on tactical events due to his disruptive nature in the cockpit despite being told by several pilots informally after the flights that he needed to tone it down. Trust me, you don't want to claim this guy as one of your own. He was almost removed from the command. He happened to be a civilian rated pilot and instructor. However, he felt this gave him the credibility to criticize weapons school graduate pilots from the back seat of his F/A-18 and F-16 rides during dog fight and bombing missions - things he had never been trained on or flown himself. I was never an E-3. I was in a position to know as I was one of the pilots that wasn't very fond of a flight doc telling me how to fight my airplane since he didn't know what he was talking about. So, yes, I did in fact know exactly why this guy was limited in his flying. Being an active participant in the flight is one thing, but he took it to a whole different level. It would be like me shadowing you and telling you that you are screwing up some doctoring thing. I don't pretend to know you so please don't pretend to know me.
Perhaps I am wrong about the way the USUHS obligation works, but the way they explained it was as follows. If you do an internship and then a 3 year GMO tour you have 3 years towards USUHS commitment paid back, but 1 incurred for internship that runs concurrent so still 3 years paid back and 4 years remaining. Then you pick up a 3 year residency. At the completion of that you have served 7 years (only 3 USUHS commitment paid back though), but incurred an additional 3 years for the residency. Those 3 years run concurrent with the remaining 4 from the USUHS commitment. That totals up to 11 years (1 intern, 3 GMO, 3 GME, 4 remaining on commitment).
If this were an HPSP guy it seems like it would be 1 year for internship and 3 year GMO. 3 years paid back on the 4 year HPSP commitment. 3 year GME incurs another 3 years to run concurrent, but you only owe 1 more on HPSP so the GME effectively adds 2 more years on the back end. That totals up to 10 years (1 intern, 3 GMO, 3 GME, 3 GME commitment).
If you were to train straight through a USUHS guy could do a 3 year GME and then he has his 7 year commitment from school and a 3 year GME commitment that runs concurrent so the result is 7 years after the GME for a total of 10 years. An HPSP guy does the same 3 year GME and then has a 4 year commitment from school plus the 3 year GME commitment that runs concurrent ends up being a total of 7 years.
This is copied directly from USUHS Admissions FAQ website (
http://www.usuhs.mil/medschool/admissions/faq.html#3):
"What is the military commitment for the M.D. program?
Students commit to serving at least seven years in the uniformed services after graduation, internship and residency are complete."
HPSP, as described to me, is basically the same, but it is four years after graduation, internship, and residency, but you can skip mil residency if you like and get out for a civilian residency.
pgg's example doesn't make sense to me as written. It didn't look like apples to apples. It looked more like an HPSP guy who does residency straight away has the same commitment as a USUHS guy who does no residency at all. I'm not trying to tell you how it is, I'm just repeating what I have been told - about the way the obligation works and what they said about GMOs. If I am wrong and you dislike me posting incorrect information then provide your own examples with detailed web links as I wasn't able to find the information on the websites you suggested.
...the weed at USUHS...
