Usuhs

[Cerberus]

Anyone else interested in USUHS? Despite the fact that there is no tuition and you get paid when in med school, I think I would enjoy the structure and opportunities of the millitary(i.e. operational medicine, travel, etc) . I think it is rapidly becoming a top choice of mine (with the slight drawback of that whole long ass committment thing).
So
Anyone have any experience with it?
What exactly is the "summer experience". Also, if you go there it is required that you do a millitary residency right?

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[jlee9531]

my friend got accepted there last year but he eventually declined and went somewhere else...

you can PM jet915 for more information and he should be able to help you out with most of your questions.

 

[brats800]

i did a lot of research about usuhs. i came to the point where it was my top choice EXCEPT for the fact that i didn't want to leave the midwest (call me crazy, but its home and i like it here.) anyway, yes you have to do a military residency. your payback time starts AFTER residency, but many of the people who go to usuhs tend to be lifers, i'm told (ie they stay in till they can retire with benefits, etc...) you should be able to find lots of information in the military residency forum. also, about that summer experience thing, i thought it looked awesome! it is like this week or so of being out essentially playing wargames...the military has soldiers in mock battles who get 'injured' and you have to treat them. real first rate way to gain experience, in my opinion. anyway, usuhs is an amazing oppportunity if you don't mind going out to bethesda for school, doing a military residency somewhere (a whole additional issue about the people who complain about not getting the residency they wanted), and doing the payback somewhere. i didn't want to have the military tell me where to go. i was excited about the structure and the military side of it all, but not the forced moves or time away from the midwest. so yeah, hope that answers your question. ask more questions if you want. if i didn't want to stay in the midwest, usuhs would be my top choice without a doubt. good luck with the decision. i've talked to lots of people who really like it.

 

[evines]

I'm going to USUHS next year (Army). I don't know all the details yet since I haven't actually experienced it, but I am pretty pumped. It became my first choice after interviewing there and staying with a student host.
Summer experience between first and second year can take place overseas. My student host, for example, spent time in a hospital in Germany and said it was awesome (how could it not be???).
Negatives are the long payback period and relatively lower pay, especially if you specialize in a "high pay" field. And you can count on being stationed overseas for at least a year during your payback period. Maybe more.
No malpractice insurance to deal with, but you still have to deal with paperwork . . .tons of it.
My suggestion is if you plan on leaving after your payback period, don't go the USUHS route. Do HPSP instead. But if you plan on staying in until retirement, USUHS seems to be the way to go.
I could say more, but I'll stop for now.

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks guys, the input is great so far.
evines:
I dont know that I'd be opposed to staying in the millitary till retirement (its not really *that* much longer). I just wish I could get a better feel for the millitary. I guess the big thing for me is that I am really interested in having a high intensity work environment and it seems like the millitary could offer that (operational medicine sounds like it would get the blood pumping). However, I have heard some bad things about millitary surgery residencies and cant seem to find a solid description of what operational meds entails and how difficult it is to get into something like that. Still, there is something about it that really appeals to me (beyond the $$ and lack of malpractice insurance). I wish they'd get the #@#@ search function back so I could search the millitary meds forum some more.

 

[Cerberus]

evines: Why did you choose army over the other branches?

 

[evines]

evines: Why did you choose army over the other branches?

For me it came down to Air Force and Army. I didn't like the idea of being on a boat for 6 months at a time, so Navy was out.
I picked Army because it's big, which possibly lends itself to more opportunities, more options for me. Another big factor was my family's history . . .my dad, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles, pretty much everybody spent some time in the Army. And I have huge respect for them.

 

[Cerberus]

For me it came down to Air Force and Army. I didn't like the idea of being on a boat for 6 months at a time, so Navy was out.
I picked Army because it's big, which possibly lends itself to more opportunities, more options for me. Another big factor was my family's history . . .my dad, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles, pretty much everybody spent some time in the Army. And I have huge respect for them.

Yeah, Navy is pretty much off the list for me too - despite the fact that most of my family has been navy. I hear AF is the most cush though.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Cerb, if you're really into operational meds you may want to avoid the AF. You will get more opportunities with the Army or Navy.

Personally, I'd like to spend some time in the Navy or AF as a flight surgeon. I would prefer a marine combat helicopter assignment, but the little lady doesn't like the idea of me flying around in helicopters. A helo going down = ****ed.

 

[Cerberus]

Cerb, if you're really into operational meds you may want to avoid the AF. You will get more opportunities with the Army or Navy.

Personally, I'd like to spend some time in the Navy or AF as a flight surgeon. I would prefer a marine combat helicopter assignment, but the little lady doesn't like the idea of me flying around in helicopters. A helo going down = ****ed.

true, navy sounds like the best for action but the worst to be in.

 

[Cerberus]

****bump*****

Does anyone know exactly what the army physician pay scale is?

 

[Swiper]

true, navy sounds like the best for action but the worst to be in.

I'll agree with this statement.

Cerb, I'm going to make a broad generalized sweeping statement just judging from what I believe your personality to be. If I had to peg you in one of the three branches, I would say you'd fit in the Army the best. Again, just a broad generalized opionion based on what I think your interests are.

The link to the page with this year's pay rates:
http://www.dfas.mil/money/milpay/pay/

I'm pretty sure the medical special pay is in there, but I'm not going to test it out right now - .pdf documents usually crash my crappy computer. If it's not there, let me know - I'll look elsewhere.

The pay scale, in general, is made up of:
1. your base pay (depending on your rank, generally O3 for a beginning physician)
2. basic allowance for housing (BAH) (which depends on where you are stationed - i.e. BAH for Washington D.C. or San Diego is much higher than BAH for Chapel Hill due to higher cost of living)
3. basic allowance for substinence (BAS) (a flat "food" fee of around $160 or so a month)
4. your medical specialty pay - depending on your specialty. For example, I think the Family Practice bonus per year (once you are board certified) is around $13K, and the Radiology bonus is around $36K.

There are also various bonuses for deployment (separation pay), being in a hazardous duty zone, and advanced sign-on bonuses.

I think I hit most of the pay - someone check me to make sure. Keep in mind that BAH and BAS are untaxed, which is a nice perk.

 

[DD214_DOC]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=109601

 

[B-Daddy]

To add to the infamous Swiper's remarks you can also go to the Navy's webpage to get special pay's that probably apply to all Doc's in the DOD.

http://www.persnet.navy.mil/pers4415/medical_corps.htm

This should get you to the spcial pay chart, but it gets rather confusing in some aspects. You get "Dr. Pay" which starts at $100 per month as an intern but peaks at $1000 between 6-8 years. You also get board certified pay which starts at $208.33. Then there is the special pay which can go up to $14K and the incentive special pays, which go from $12K - $36K.

The pay is not all that bad, but it is life you want to live that you need to figure out. Life in the military is not for everyone and you need to be able to roll with punches. Good luck!

 

[Swiper]

...infamous Swiper...

Hmm, infamous? INFAMOUS??

"\In"fa*mous\, a. [Pref. in- not + famous: cf. L. infamis. See Infamy.] 1. Of very bad report; having a reputation of the worst kind; held in abhorrence; guilty of something that exposes to infamy; base; notoriously vile; detestable; as, an infamous traitor; an infamous perjurer."

I'm tempted to throw some negative Karma in the B-Daddy direction...

 

[grumbo]

I too will be heading to USUHS this fall (Army) and it's a decision that just seemed to work out best for me and my family. I thought I'd throw out an example of Army medical pay just to let people visualize it better than having to pick throught the special pay charts. The example below is based on no prior service, having dependents (a wife in this case), and chosing family practice. Mind you, this is not the main reason I want to go to USUHS, nor should it be anyone's, but this should give a general picture of what you can expect to get paid. Sorry if this comes out a little jumbled with the tabs a little out of place.

Medical School Amount Months Total
2Lt Base Pay $2,264.40 12 $27,172.80
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance $1,454.00 12 $17,448.00
Total $3,893.60 $46,723.20

Residency (first 2 yrs) Amount Months Total
Cpt Base Pay $2,911.20 12 $34,934.40
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $100.00 12 $1,200.00
Total $4,141.40 $49,696.80

Residency (3rd year) Amount Months Total
Cpt Base Pay $3,300.30 12 $39,603.60
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $100.00 12 $1,200.00
Total $4,530.50 $54,366.00

After Residency (1st yr) Amount Months Total
Cpt Base Pay $3,562.20 12 $42,746.40
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $416.67 12 $5,000.00
Board Certified Pay $208.33 12 $2,500.00
Incentive Special Pay $1,083.33 12 $13,000.00
Additional Special Pay $1,250.00 12 $15,000.00
Total $7,650.73 $91,808.80

After Residency (yrs 2-3) Amount Months Total
Cpt Base Pay $3,883.50 12 $46,602.00
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $416.67 12 $5,000.00
Board Certified Pay $208.33 12 $2,500.00
Incentive Special Pay $1,083.33 12 $13,000.00
Additional Special Pay $1,250.00 12 $15,000.00
Total $7,972.03 $95,664.40

After Residency (4th yr) Amount Months Total
Major Base Pay $4,383.00 12 $52,596.00
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $1,000.00 12 $12,000.00
Board Certified Pay $208.33 12 $2,500.00
Incentive Special Pay $1,083.33 12 $13,000.00
Additional Special Pay $1,250.00 12 $15,000.00
Total $9,054.87 $108,658.40

After Residency (5th yr) Amount Months Total
Major Base Pay $4,637.00 12 $55,644.00
Subsistence $175.20 12 $2,102.40
Basic Housing Allowance * $955.00 12 $11,460.00
Variable Special Pay $1,000.00 12 $12,000.00
Board Certified Pay $208.33 12 $2,500.00
Incentive Special Pay $1,083.33 12 $13,000.00
Additional Special Pay $1,250.00 12 $15,000.00
Total $9,308.87 $111,706.40

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks guys, those salaries look pretty damned good. I seriously doubt i'd have much reason to whine about income making 100k a year with no leftover debts from medschool.