USUHS and 7 year commitment

[whatdapho]

Anyone applying to USUHS this cycle? USUHS was my top choice of the few allo schools that I applied to. I'm sitting on the secondary right now because i'm having doubts about doing the required 7 years of active duty once you're done with your residency, which is what you give back for not paying med school tuition. The 7 years is not including your residency so it's quite a bit of time. I'm 25 years old and I eventually want to start a family but I don't want to subject them to a life of a military personnel. I would love to travel the world but i'm worried about being station in some far off country. Don't get me wrong about the military because I think people in the armed services are making such a sacrifice. I just don't know if I could do it plus have a family. I'm worried about the impact of my family. Anyone in the same situation or has gone through this or grew up in a military family.

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[notdeadyet]

Check out the "Military Residency" section of these web-boards. Many people are very unhappy with the state of military medicine right now. I would make sure that you want to do this, as a 10 year commitment minimum (3 years for the shortest residency) is a long, long time, particularly practicing medicine in an environment that is rife with problems.

Check out the other forum. There are a few active UHUHS folks, happy and not, who can give you a much better idea than most who lurk here.

 

[Pemberley]

Anyone applying to USUHS this cycle? USUHS was my top choice of the few allo schools that I applied to. I'm sitting on the secondary right now because i'm having doubts about doing the required 7 years of active duty once you're done with your residency, which is what you give back for not paying med school tuition. The 7 years is not including your residency so it's quite a bit of time. I'm 25 years old and I eventually want to start a family but I don't want to subject them to a life of a military personnel. I would love to travel the world but i'm worried about being station in some far off country. Don't get me wrong about the military because I think people in the armed services are making such a sacrifice. I just don't know if I could do it plus have a family. I'm worried about the impact of my family. Anyone in the same situation or has gone through this or grew up in a military family.

The best thing to do is contact some military physicians at a base near you. Try to shadow them, if security permits. Pick their brains, not only about their own job satisfaction, but also about their spouse's and kids' happiness. I used to tutor military brats overseas in high school math -- some loved it, some hated it. There are advantages and disadvantages, and the key is to learn as much as you can about both, and then make up your own mind.

 

[Depakote]

I'm also concerned with the strings attached. You might be done with the active portion after X number of years, but how long do they reserve the right to call you back?

I don't want to be put in a position where I have a large patient base I am servicing and then be forced to abandon them.

 

[RokChalkJayhawk]

I'm also concerned with the strings attached. You might be done with the active portion after X number of years, but how long do they reserve the right to call you back?

I don't want to be put in a position where I have a large patient base I am servicing and then be forced to abandon them.

Well being a physician you will be an officer.

I do belive (although I am not sure) that an officer serves at the discretion of the president. I think you have to request to be allowed to leave your position. Theoretically I believe you could be in for life, assuming there was a need for you.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

Well being a physician you will be an officer.

I do belive (although I am not sure) that an officer serves at the discretion of the president. I think you have to request to be allowed to leave your position. Theoretically I believe you could be in for life, assuming there was a need for you.

This is technically true. I am an officer right now, and to apply to medical school, I had to submit a resignation letter, explaining my reasons for leaving active duty, 9-12 months prior to my requested date of separation. Theoretically, that could get disapproved. But the Navy would have to be experiencing a serious manpower shortage in my specialty (submarines) for that too happen.

That being said, it is entirely feasible that they may experience shortages in specific medical specialties; the Global War on Terrorism has severely impacted the number of people accepting HPSP scholarships and the number applying to USUHS. So, you could POTENTIALLY run into the problem of not being able to resign.

Now, we are looking 16 years into the future here (1 until med school starts, 4 years med school, 4 years (generally speaking) internship & residency, and then your 7 year obligation), so there is no way to predict what the state of military medicine will be at that time.

Make an educated decision. Be aware of the potential risks associated with what your obligated service. Good to you. I hope to see you at USUHS for interviews, if you decide to apply!

 

[bigdan]

Great advice from the above poster.

I'd say to think about WHY you want to do military medicine. If it is a loan repayment issue only, think long and hard about that. Physicians have one of the lowest - if not the lowest - amount of default on loans of postgraduate specialties. A couple friends of mine in residency are wondering why they chose military service, as they see the residents above them graduate with $350K/yr jobs.

If you want to serve our country, however, that is another issue. It is simply one of the most honorable and courageous things you can do, in my mind. Go for it.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

dc

 

[UtProsim]

I know that it is a VERY long commitment. If I do get accepted to USUHS, I would also owe them 4 years extra due to the fact that they also paid for my undergraduate education, bringing the total to about 20 years. The positive side is that military physicians do not pay for their education, and while serving in the military they do not pay exorbitant amounts for malpractice insurance; however, there are of course downsides, which are extensively covered elsewhere in these forums. Some may not agree with the long service obligation. For me, this was never a problem because I planned to make a career out of the military from the get go; however, I can see why many people wouldn't go this route; planning the next 15-20 years of your life within the next year is nothing you should rush into.

I would suggest that you read more about what you're getting into, but why not send in the secondary? There is no fee involved for the USUHS secondary, and there is no obligation to accept their offer of admission. If and when you do get an interview, tour the campus, and talk to medical students so that you can make an informed decision as to whether or not the military will be a good fit for you.

And that was the longest post I've ever written.

 

[kimmcauliffe]

To the OP-

You're talking to a prior service member right here! And a current Reservist.

The big thing about this school is the commitment you serve after- I did six years but didn't have a family to consider, so basically I didn't have any problems moving all over the country and doing what I wanted.

Remember that they will send you where THEY need you, not where you want to go, necessarily. And some of these places don't allow your family (a remote assignment, like Greenland or a tour in Iraq), so make sure you check that out with your recruiter from the school or whoever you're talking to.

There is a formula they use to calculate how much time after your enlistment that they could still call you back to duty. For the Air Force, it was called Inactive Ready Reserve. For each person, it's different- my time in IRR was only six months. For others, it's a year or more.

Anyway, if you want to talk more or if you have any specific questions about active duty, you can send me a private message if you'd like- I'd be more than happy to help!

Kim

 

[2ZRSQ!]

Hey, don't know if this will help anyone, but I grew up the kid of a military doc. I am also applying to USUHS and would LOVE to go there, so right off the bat you know I can't have had that bad a time of it. Both my parents were officers in the Air Force up until a few years ago. Mom's a doc, Dad's a pilot. Mom did HPSP but ended up loving it and staying in. I moved around every 3 years or so, and yeah, changing schools stank, but frankly, I got to live overseas for years and all over the country, while a lot of kids in my schools had never left the state. My parents were away on TDY, usually not at the same time but it sometimes happened, and my little sister and I stayed with family, no biggie. My parents were both deployed for the first Gulf War, and I stayed with my grandparents for the bulk of that. A lot of people, when I tell them about how I grew up, think I must have hated it, but the truth is I LOVED it. I got to do things as a kid that most people never get to do in their entire lives, my parents had very stable jobs and made plenty to provide well for our family, there was an instant "family" of military people everywhere we went, all kinds of perks. Just don't worry too much about making family work- home is wherever you are, and the military is great, in my experience, with family support services. I know that was a looooong post, but I just wanted people who maybe don't have military experience to know that it doesn't have to be a sacrifice for your family when you are in the military- it can be an opportunity, an experience, as long as you are honest about what it will be like. Just my two cents.