Some of the most frequent inquiries I get are from students interested in going into the military as a doctor. I discuss my experiences serving on active duty in the United States Navy Medical Corps in this episode of the program. I discuss my motivations for joining and some of the opportunities I’ve had. During my active duty, I’ve traveled to places like Texas, South and Central America, Cuba, and the Caribbean in addition to Virginia.
This episode is for you if you or someone you know is interested in military medicine, has questions about some of the special opportunities the practice model offers, or wants to know how much a military doctor makes. If you find the show useful, please consider sharing it, subscribing, and leaving a comment.
The purpose of TBDP, a volunteer passion project, is to motivate everyone who hears it. We produce our own music and audio, so we welcome any suggestions for enhancements or advice for visitors in the future. Visit www. StevenBradleyMD. com to learn more about our host. He is accessible for talks and consultations on medical ethics and health equity.
The Black Doctors podcast tells the experiences of underrepresented professionals in an effort to motivate others. Due to the fact that the next generation cannot be when they do not see, if you enjoy what you hear, please subscribe and spread the word. Every Monday, tune in to hear our stories told by ourselves. Hello and welcome to the Black Diners podcast. Im Steven Bradley, your host. I appreciate you watching and joining us for this episode. Please visit iTunes to subscribe if you enjoy this show. You can provide feedback by rating or reviewing the program, and doing so enables us to expand and provide this information to more people. This episode is going to be a little different. I know that I frequently conduct interviews with other healthcare professionals, but I must admit that it is a little more comfortable for me to simply sit back and kind of listen to others as they share their experiences, tell colorful tales, and discuss their daily practices. I recently spoke with Dr. Knee Darko about his podcast, and during our conversation, he kind of encouraged me to share my story. I believe that this is a perfect opportunity to do so. I want to share a portion of the story, and one of the topics about which I frequently field inquiries is military medicine. I have been an acti duty for three years now. They do to say its navy. I’m a Lieutenant Commander, and in this episode, I’ll go into great detail about how I joined the military and my experiences so far as an active duty soldier. I do have to say that these thoughts and opinions are my own before we begin. They are not authorized to speak on behalf of the Department of Defense or the US Navy. Its just me out here. Start from the very beginning, which is probably the best place to do so. So I grew up a Navy Brett. My father was serving in the United States Navy on active duty. He was a surface warfare officer. That implied that, if you will, he sort of drove and fought ships. He was in charge of overseeing his team and, in my opinion, a lot of the maintenance, making sure the systems worked, and other similar tasks that he was performing in the navy. He worked in the engineering department, on a few destroyers, and on aircraft carriers. But that was how I was raised. We grew up moving up and down the east coast. Actually, I was born in Philadelphia while my father was assigned to a shipyard there. As a result, it served as a tremendous source of inspiration for me as a child, and I obviously always had aspirations of enlisting in the Navy. So you can fast forward a couple years. I went to college. I originally intended to join the college service, but I decided to attend medical school instead, so I didn’t have time to formally sign up. I suppose that after receiving acceptance to medical school, I tried to enlist through the health of Susian scholarship program, which is essentially the biggest or most popular way for people to join the military. However, because I submitted my application a little bit late, it was not accepted into the program. I believe that everything works out for the best because, looking back, I’m kind of glad I chose to enter in a different way rather than using that route. I attended Howard University for medical school and had four wonderful years there before moving on to my residency at the University of Chicago. I kind of considered enlisting in the military once more after moving to Chicago and looked into my options. I became aware of the Financial Assistance Program, a program that offers scholarships. It does give some additional bonus money during residency. I believe the figures were around $60,000 per year while I was in residency. Since this is before taxes, I was aware of the tax implications of that amount of money pretty early on. Contrary to popular belief, I owed four years of duty service and the program paid me this additional money for three years in exchange. I may also not have paid off my student loans.
they did get me for cheap. Again, the only additional compensation I received during my four-year residency was for three years. Once my residency is over, I’ll be able to use some of that money to pay off some debts I had and to put it to use in other ways. So that was nice. Obviously living with a little easier for me of residency. I really, really, really wanted to go into critical care toward the end of my residency. Since I was a medical student at Howard and rotated in the surgical I see you, that has been my dream. I loved it. I know I wanted to be an intentivist. So as I was getting ready to apply for the fellowship, I knew I should probably check with the navy because throughout my residency—like the last three years—the Navy didn’t really get in touch with me. I was essentially hanging out by myself and just living my life. Enjoin Residency and Join Chicago. So I tried to find out who was in charge of navy medicine and ended up googling a few different names. Lets say thats like a pretty much complete civilian. In my opinion, that’s what I was at the time, but it turns out that I was actually in the reserves. I therefore located one person’s name and emailed them. Hey, I’m coming as per duty, but I’d like to participate in a fellowship I asked if it was possible for me to apply for a fellowship, and I got the response: When emailing the government, please use your official military rank entitle. As I okay, well, fired back and responsible. They informed me that I was USNR Lieutenant Anthony Seven Bradley. So thats when I realized. I Oh, Im in the Naval Reserve. I guess I signs of paperwork for this. I was informed that the Navy didn’t have a need for thesiologists or critical care, so I was to report after completing my residency to carry out my orders. Cool. Before I completed my residency, in the spring, I actually received my orders in the mail. I forgot to mention that after graduating from college, my younger brother actually joined the Navy. He participated in ROTC and has been actively engaged for a number of years. I was actually out visiting him. I found out where I would be serving on active duty when he stationed there on a destroyer, which was in Hawaii. I had a few options to choose from, and fortunately I chose the Naval Medical Center of Portsmouth. It is one of the Navy’s three primary hospitals. This house was looted in Virginia, and the Navy has three military facilities that are akin to tertiary care facilities. We were going to move in together because my brother had orders to work in the Virginia region as well. So I opened the orders and, sort of, deciphered them using a cipher. I was supposed to arrive on July 1st, a Sunday. I literally finished my residency on June 30 and then packed everything. The military moved all of my belongings across the country for free because it’s one of the perks of serving in the military, but it was a hassle to set everything up and get me out of my condo. On June 30, I packed my belongings and left Chicago for Virginia. June or July. One was a Sunday, so I checked in July. Second. Actually, I spent the night driving and made stops to see Asus and friends. I had grown out some locks toward the end of residency, so they reached my shoulders, but I was aware that I would need to cut them before joining the military. So I went and have my buddy jared dared Miller. He was one of my good friends. Hes a surgery resident in Chicago. He also works as a barber, so he cut my hair before I left for Virginia. I arrived at my hospital with a shaved head because I thought, “Okay, I should probably shave before I show up.” I then checked in to the hospital because there was a lot of paperwork to fill out. I thought, “Okay, I guess this is what you do in the military,” and that was back in July when I started at my new duty station. Its a couple of things happened next. One I had to take my written boards for anesthesis. So I had a.
Despite having submitted all of my paperwork and credentials at the beginning of the summer, I still had a few weeks to finish studying for those and hadn’t received my credential. When I arrived, I had to complete the paperwork once more. So I wasnt credentialed yet to work. Actually, I had never attended after development school, the brief course that prepares students to serve as military officers. I passed my written exams and left for Officer Development School in Newport, Rhode Island in late August. While it wasn’t particularly fun—there was a lot of yelling and I kind of felt like I was getting a little old to be yelled at—It was still an interesting experience for me. I guess they tried to make it look like a movie. But unlike line officers, staff corps officers attend the officer development school. So my dad my brother are line officers. They or the real navy, quote unquote. They drive ships and shoot guns or whatever. The staff consists of your lawyers, chaplains, nurses, and doctors in addition to your Jag officers. Due to the fact that our school was a little different from the typical offer development school, they were able to teach us a lot in just five weeks. We kind of learned how to March, not really. It was cool that there were prescribed ways to enter the Chow Hall and how to eat your food in order to instill discipline and military bearing in you. But Id also just finished, you know, med school residency. So I think, okay, if I wasn’t disciplined before this, then not much went wrong. But since I had been in training for the previous, oh, twelve years, it was a nice break. I therefore had a good time during the summer there, and at the off-development school, I learned that I had passed my boards. At that point, I could register for my oral board exam. was able to do that before coming back to Virginia. So I showed back up at Abi Medical Center Portsmouth. I waited around for another few weeks until my paperwork was finally received in about October, by which time I still had not received my credential. I knocked out some cases in the O are. There is a military residency program at the hospital, so after completing about ten cases by ourselves, we immediately start working with residents. We receive about six residents per year, so it has taken a lot of time to work with them. Additionally, there is a student or intern program that typically collaborates with CRNAIDS staff. So I just kind of got my feet wet and started practicing medicine or anesthesia for the next few months after stepping right into this kind of academic practice model. The practice at my hospital is pretty pretty mixed. I used to work in the ore one or two days a week. Most likely one day per week, I was in charge of overseeing the acute pain service for residents and performing nerve blocks. Were seeing in patient pain consolts. I occasionally handled pediatric cases and occasionally ran the board. As the oar coordinators are board runners, we therefore have a board that is sort of led by an asiologist. Therefore, I have a pretty mixed practice where I do anesthesia and/or an acision on the OAR on one or two days and kind of those antillary things on the other days. Sort of gets you out of the way so you can get to your practice with a nice little mix. And occasionally, there are calls that require you to spend the night in a home. Thus, this continued until sometime in the spring of 2000, when they sent someone to Getanomo Bay. There is a naval hospital on Latanoo Bay, and it is typically staffed with a CRNA, at least one acciologist, and other personnel. They need to take leave. Then a mainland resident will need to come down and fill that position, possibly with a nurse and Nessatus. As a result, I have the opportunity to go because one of my colleagues who works there, a narcologist, had to return and pick up his boardy Sam. I had already completed my oral board exams by this point, which I thankfully passed. So I was fully board certified and so.
I went down to Getano Mo Bay. I believe this occurred in the months of March or April of the year 2000. was down there for just just under a month. So I took a flight from Norfolk to Jackson A, Florida, and then a plane from Jacksonville flew down to pick up Bo. Overall, it was a great experience to see how completely separated the island is from Cuba or that we are on Cuba, but regrettably there is no such thing as going to Havana. I understand, but I had anticipated it to resemble the scene from Bad Boys where the characters were sort of driving and attempting to enter a base. It didn’t look like that either, but it was still interesting to tour the ruins of Camp X Ray, where prisoners of war—or, I suppose we should call them detainees—were housed. Therefore, the former nobles were still present but in a state of disarray. There is a brand-new type of prison that was constructed on the island, but it has a different medical staff and doesn’t really go there at all. The Guantanamo Bay hospital was small, had a few beds at two or three, and wasn’t particularly busy. Like, I believe we only performed cases two or three days a week, and they were typically called oscopies or endoscopies. I believe I completed one aff and deck to me during my month there, and I believe that was it for general surgery cases. I was able to fly back to Virginia from Guantanamo Bay at the end of the month, and shortly after that, probably two weeks later, I learned that I would be departing on the US and as comfort, which is a hospital ship to hospital ship and is sort of homeported here in Norfolk, Virginia. There are actually two hospital ships: the mercy and the conference, which travels between the West Coast and San Diego, the conference, which is in Virginia on the East Coast, and the conference, which travels between This ship, which is a converted oil tanker, deployed to New York during the COVID Nineteen pandemic. Their map their oil tankers and their painted white. On the outside, they have a Red Cross, and inside, there are many operating rooms. They have hundreds of kind of ward spaces, which are essentially bunkbeds that are set up, and I believe they have ten to twelve operating rooms. They have a few rooms for care at the ICEEU level. I believe that there should be three iceus on comfort and a few other services. They therefore had a CT scanner and numerous ultrasound machines. The emergency department served as their casually receiving area. For the most part, they had separate sleeping areas for the crew and the staff. I was given about two weeks’ notice before embarking on this Mediterranean aid mission, during which we traveled to South America, Central America, and the Caribbean to handle cases for the general public and conduct typical Mediterranean aid medical missions. So its able to kind of get things ready. It turned out that I would be the department head for the anesthesia department, which consisted of myself, I believe, three or four crnas, and the thesiologists. We all packed our belongings and left. I was trying to figure out what cases we were expected to handle and how much equipment we needed to order, which is kind of difficult. Although we didn’t have all the details up front, everything worked out okay, and in June we sold to Miami. Stop there; I believe the vice president joined the company to explore. It was pent at the time. We departed from Miami, traveled through the Panama Canal, which is an interesting experience, and then, I believe, made our first stop in Peru or Ecuador, where we began seeing patients. Therefore, during the course of the five-month mission, rents essentially repeated themselves. Each stop took about ten days, and we made ten different stops in ten different countries. On the first day, supplies would be flown off the ship. We had to deploy with the helicopter squadron, so they would begin launching supplies from the ship to establish a medical engagement site. The following day, the clinical services team would disembark, at which point the anesthesiologists and surgeons would begin screening patients. We would we.
had strict rules about who could and could not be brought on board the ship, but we would see, you know, about 82 hundred patients on the second day of the mission, and that same day the first group would begin to be brought to the ship. We would begin the mission’s third day with morning operations. We perform several full-day cases, operate in three or four operating rooms, and perform procedures like collistectomies, gall bladder removal, and removal of you know, like Palmas. These procedures are generally benign in nature. A few cleft flip and Palette surgeries would be performed by us. For the capabilities. We had three general surgeons. We had a urologist that joined US halfway through. A talented plastic surgeon, two ophthalmologists, and a pediatric surgeon were all on staff. In addition to our own or all-Canadian maxillofacial surgeons, we also had a few other positions from other nations. A Mensico ophthomologist was also with us for the majority of the journey. The following few days would therefore be spent operating only. Wed bring on that group the night before of patients. Theyd be in Po at midnight. We taken to the OAR. They would stay over the night and lead the following morning. They admit a second group of patients the same day; these are the patients we operated on the following day, and they would spend the night. Thus, it revolves around the Robin deal and ends up requiring five days of surgery. Arabic, about twenty cases of the day. is about a hundred cases permission stop. As a result, it was a very interesting experience. Fortunately, we didn’t really get to experience the cultures of the nations we visited because, in most cases, we would just get off the ship one day and spend the entire time screening patients at this engagement site. Then wed spend the rest of time on the ship. Because we couldn’t get off the ship, even though you could see these gorgeous countries from the ship while it was docked in their harbors, you really didn’t get a chance to experience them. We simply went there to work, conduct ourselves, and assist others. So we did this for ten different countries. They sprinkled into liberty ports in there. One was in Costa Rica, where we had three days to explore after getting off the ship, but there were a ton of rules and regulations. After that, we made another stop in Kiras, a stunning country, where my fiance’s former girlfriend, who had been able to nationalize him, had returned. So it was a fantastic break. A really really helped a relationship because it was difficult to communicate due to the distance and the cell form reception was pretty poor in a lot of these countries, since we were out to see a little bit in the harbor and then when we were traveling from country to country, there was just no service at all. Theres barely even any Internet access. It was all kind of dial up from the ship. Thus, we completed that mission and returned to Virginia. This would have been during the winter of 2109, roughly. We were able to spend some time together. I believe that after taking a few trips, I returned to my hospital’s medical system and resumed my work in the oars. Our coordinator’s typical schedule consists of them rotating around and performing whatever tasks are necessary. Then, in the spring of 2000, you know, we kind of watched as the cholera pandemic spread throughout the world. When he eventually arrived in the United States, however, everything just kind of blew up in the spring. I was able to work on making some sort of backup plans for our COVID response, and initially it was going to involve returning to New York when they deployed on a comfortable flight. There is a lengthy story that goes along with that, which I will likely share at a later time once I have left the navy. But to cut a long story short, I decided against traveling to New York and returning to my hospital job. After being assigned to one of the field hospitals they were setting up for a few weeks, that fell through.
through. In fact, I was a part of a group that intended to travel to Iraq. was an expeditionary medical unit made up of some medics, some other support staff, two surgeons, and two narcissists to syarinaise to Eur Docks, and I believe possibly a position assistant as well. So I was just the alternate for that group. I consequently decided to leave during the COVID pandemic. I think it was June. We went to Texas, flew out there. In Texas’s desert, we trained for a full month while firing guns. I qualified as a expert marksman, for whatever thats worth. Although I’m not a big fan of guns, we had to shoot because we were traveling abroad. Had to receive training in using weapons and learning some of the customs and courtesies of the Iraqi people. And once more, it’s just an interesting experience to kind of watch, prepare, and consider that I was just on recall for the following you know, I said, I’m like a two week recall wall for the nacologist I was the alternate for, you know, who stayed healthy and fit and ultimately ended up deploying. This group was deployed. They left in the spring or summer of 2000 and returned in the following spring. I was no longer sort of on standby for that group once one person returned safely. I have therefore continued to work at my regular military hospital ever since. I’ve actually submitted my paperwork because I’m nearing the end of my four-year service commitment after a few deployments that have come and gone. I owe just over nine months left. I should be returning to my home country in June or July of this year so that I can finish my fellowship and critical care training. Really looking forward to that. Overall, serving on active duty has been a positive experience. There is a lot of history there, so consider leaving a legacy. People frequently inquire about the benefits of serving in the military or whether they should do so, in my experience. What matters to me is why you want to serve in the military, so please explain. Kids, the military gives you the chance to do things that you probably wouldn’t ever do. Whether you want to, say, work on a ship or in an aviation environment, if that’s your thing, the military definitely gives you the chance to do that. It was family to me because my dad and brother performed their civic duty. I really wanted to join and full fillip family legacy. Predominantly for financial reasons, and it just depends on what matters most to you, is the one reason I advise against joining. It spilitary positions. We are compensated significantly less than our counterparts in the civilian world, so if you join for financial reasons, there’s a good chance that you’ll eventually feel let down or resentful if you’re not earning as much as your fellow partners are. There have been numerous opportunities reported to assume leadership positions, learn various aspects of leadership, and simply observe how a large organization like the military operates. It’s been a good couple of years, but I’m eager to finish and move on because that will allow me to practice critical care, which has been my goal ever since I started my residency. I frequently receive inquiries about military medicine, and given how much there is to know, this only really scratches the surface. More specifically, how does the rank system operate? How do orders work? What happens if someone issues an order that is in conflict with your medical judgment? I’m constantly asked these questions, and for a while I kind of had one-on-one conversations with people via social media. They questioned me, we scheduled a meeting, and we spoke for twenty to thirty minutes, but it just got to be too much. It was somewhat overwhelming to have a conversation with everyone who had questions. I occasionally try to communicate with and share its information through my Instagram Stories, but more recently I decided to switch.
To answer questions I’ve received about military medicine, gears and I actually built a Patreon account called Millmaed, or Mil Meed. On that Patreon account, I’ve been posting short videos, maybe ten or fifteen minute episodes in audio format. I’ll be adding a few extra episodes each month, and they’ll essentially just be candidate conversations in which I respond to questions from various candidates. It is on Patreon. There is a small fee, but the pay wall, in my opinion, really just helps to concentrate the content and makes it a little more covert. Not that I’m saying I’m not saying anything horrible and bad, but I can speak a little more freely than if I were just going to blast it across the Internet, Airways, and social media sites. I also answer two questions that a lot of people haven’t heard before and present a fairly objective, direct viewpoint. You know, a straightboard answer for talking to a recruiter. Evidently, they are most interested in joining the military. You really need to talk to someone, whether it’s me or someone else who has held an acting position in the past. Youd be surprised when you look at recruiters. They are frequently enlisted, which means that they are not positions. Military recruiters frequently work as staff, so they are similar to hospital administrators, nurse cords, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. They do not understand the complicated nature of our job in the military, the various reimbursements, or anything else like that. They have their prices for a military position. Therefore, they can’t really give you an accurate but complete picture of what it’s like to hold a military position. So if you are interested in doing militarys position. I do encourage you to look for someone in a military position to speak with. Check out the milment patron account. On my Instagram profile, Steven Bradley empd, there is a link. Additionally, I’ll send out a link to the Milvent patron account in the show notes, which you can access by reading them. Thanks so much for joining listening to this episode. Just another aspect of practice and tuning in maybe later this week, if I’m helpful and informative. I intend to attempt to record a new episode of “Office Hours.” If not, be sure to check us out again here on the Black Pots podcast the following week. The Black Doctors Podcast is a nonprofit volunteer project with the passion of reaching all listeners; tune in next week for a new episode. Put Dr Steven Bradley, Your Friendly Neighborhood Anitisologist,.
- Pro: Graduating debt-free. …
- Pro: Financial security. …
- Pro: You’ll be serving your country. …
- Pro: Unique opportunities for training. …
- Con: You might have fewer options for residency. …
- Con: Location. …
- Con: A multi-year commitment.
Pros and cons of being a military physician
Consider the following benefits and drawbacks before beginning a career as a military doctor:
Pros of being a military physician
The following are some of the main benefits of working as a military doctor:
One significant benefit of working as a military doctor is that you can earn your medical degree without accruing any debt. The traditional educational route to becoming a certified medical practitioner can be costly. Before enrolling in medical school, students spend time and money finishing their undergraduate degrees. They must first complete a bachelor’s degree, which typically takes four years to complete, before completing medical school, which frequently requires an additional four years. Without scholarships or other forms of financial aid, students could accrue large debts.
Your medical school tuition may be fully covered if you want to work as a military doctor. Medical school tuition and the majority of other education-related costs can be covered for students who sign up for a military scholarship program during their four years of college. After completing their residency, students must typically serve for at least four years in the military to be eligible for this benefit.
Military physicians are paid a monthly stipend as students to cover their living expenses during their educational program. Through the same scholarship program that pays for their educational costs, they are given this stipend. This allowance aids medical students in meeting their living expenses while they are pursuing their education and training. Additionally, as they gain experience and move up the ranks within their military branch, military doctors can expect to earn higher salaries. Military doctors receive lower base pay on average than civilian doctors, but in some cases they also receive additional benefits like housing allowances that could make up for the pay gap.
Military doctors not only have job security but also financial security. The military ensures that physicians have employment opportunities as soon as they complete their education and training. Military doctors, as opposed to civilian ones, are immediately employed after graduation.
Military doctors receive training in distinctive settings where they can practice providing emergency care in very specific circumstances. Military doctors may acquire expertise in examining workplace injuries, dealing with medical emergencies brought on by artillery or aircraft, and attempting to prevent injuries in perilous field situations. Additionally, these doctors could take courses in field management and advanced disaster life support. These abilities relate to specialized military operations, allowing military doctors to acquire a special set of abilities that the majority of civilian doctors never acquire.
Finally, being a military physician can be a rewarding career. People who join the military frequently feel called to do so, and those who work as doctors have the privilege of changing people’s lives on a daily basis. Military doctors use their clinical expertise and knowledge to maintain and enhance the health of their comrades in arms. To obtain their positions, these professionals spent many years in training and education. In their daily work, they overcome obstacles with passion and dedication, give extensive care, and exhibit professional excellence.
Cons of being a military physician
The following are some drawbacks of working as a military doctor, along with ideas for overcoming these difficulties:
Your limited options for specialties and residencies as a military physician could be a drawback. After completing their education, civil medical professionals may have more freedom in choosing where to pursue their residency training. When looking to begin a residency program, military doctors must submit an application for a military match. The military match program places aspiring doctors in a residency program supported by the military. Although this limits the amount of freedom students have to select their program, they still have the choice to enroll in a year-long transitional program if their preferred specialty is not offered. Students occasionally receive special permission to complete a civilian residency.
Depending on your professional objectives and interests, you might not have much trouble choosing the specialty of your choice. Since some specialties, such as family practice, internal medicine, and general surgery are frequently available, it is more likely that physicians in training will find residencies in these fields. It may be helpful to have a second or third backup option if you’re interested in pursuing a specialty in a more niche field like urology, radiology, emergency medicine, or dermatology. Otherwise, be adaptable and get ready to take a year off before you reapply.
Military doctors are employed in accordance with a multi-year contract they sign with the service. Those who receive scholarships through the military frequently sign agreements committing them to serving one year on active duty for every year they receive scholarship funding. In order to account for the financial aid they receive during their four years of medical school, the majority of military physicians sign a four-year contract for active duty. Depending on your specialty, military branch, and scholarship program, some contracts may be shorter or longer. Contracts can range in length from one year to eight years.
Even though having a contract can restrict your options for employment right out of medical school, it also offers job security. Your job position is guaranteed if you commit to working as a military doctor for the duration of your contract, and doing so enables you to gain experience as a fully qualified medical professional. You may also receive advantages not available to doctors in the civilian sector, such as having full malpractice insurance coverage, depending on the specifics of your contract. When deciding whether signing a military contract is the right choice for you, it’s critical to take your professional, financial, and personal goals into consideration.
As a military service member, you might be subject to deployment. While training physicians are not deployed by the military during medical school or residency, physicians are frequently deployed by the military after graduation. Depending on your branch, specialty, and the requirements of the military, the duration of a deployment can vary, but most last for several months. Although they rarely work in combat environments, doctors may be deployed to dangerous areas, so it’s important to consider this potential risk when choosing this career.
Many military careers have the possibility of deployment, so anticipating it can help you know what to expect before an assignment. Know the risks of deployment and have a plan in place in case you have to work abroad. Do some research on current military activity to determine where you might go if you were given a mission. Being at ease and seeing your assignment as a chance to serve others can both result from feeling prepared prior to a deployment assignment.
According to its requirements, the military may ask you to relocate during your contract. The military frequently transfers medical personnel throughout their contracts. This may reduce your options for where you can live and work. Although the military allows its members to choose where they want to be stationed, it is not guaranteed that doctors will be able to settle in their preferred location. Making plans for a potential move can help you feel prepared before a moving assignment. Similar to a deployment, anticipating a move enables you to create a moving strategy.
Consider some of the benefits of relocation in addition to having a plan and being ready to move. The military frequently gives you a stipend to cover your moving expenses. Additionally, they provide a housing allowance that can help with your housing expenses. Depending on where you are stationed, you might live in a neighborhood with other military personnel. This can be a wonderful opportunity to socialize with people going through similar experiences to yours. Having community support will help you as you adjust to your new location and advance in your career.
Tips for choosing whether to become a military physician
You can use the following advice to determine whether becoming a military doctor is the right path for you:
Consider your professional interests
Consider your professional interests and the types of careers that will best advance your professional objectives when making career decisions. For instance, doctors work in a variety of specialties and subspecialties. It’s crucial to consider the type of doctor you want to be if you want to practice medicine. Knowing which medical specialties are in high demand can help you assess the employment prospects for your preferred position because, as a military physician, your options for employment in some specialties may be more constrained.
Think about your work and lifestyle preferences
The military lifestyle suits some people better than others. Examine whether a military career is the best cultural fit for your preferences in terms of work and lifestyle. For instance, if you enjoy being active, traveling, and working with others, a career in the military might be a great fit for you. A military career can be rewarding and teach you important leadership, tenacity, and commitment skills. Others might prefer a civilian way of life, which allows for more freedom, direct control over your place of employment, location, and ability to switch careers or workplaces.
Account for your financial goals
Finally, before choosing a career path, make a plan for your financial objectives. Being a military doctor has many financial advantages, including options for paying for your education. There might be fewer comprehensive financial aid options available to those choosing a traditional civilian career path.
Along with your educational investment, take into account your long-term financial objectives. Military doctors may make less money on average than civilian doctors, but they do typically earn higher salaries based on rank and experience. Military doctors may receive additional compensation, such as housing allowances, to make up for their lower base pay. When determining your financial objectives and comparing your earning potential to that of a civilian, take into consideration the financial value of the benefits you may receive as a military physician.
So You Want to Be a MILITARY DOCTOR [Ep. 5]
FAQ
What are the benefits of being a military doctor?
Military doctors receive generous benefits, including student loan repayment, insurance, retirement benefits, and more, in addition to comfortable salaries. As you rise through the ranks as an officer, your base pay, housing allowance, and subsistence allowance all increase for all active-duty military physicians.
Do military doctors get paid more than civilian doctors?
Civilian resident doctors graduate with salaries that are comparably lower than those of other professionals. Military resident physicians earn higher salaries than their civilian counterparts by 53% (post-tax pay), which is a substantial difference in annual salary
Is military medical school worth it?
The military doctor received benefits of $1 after 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency, and 4 years of post-residency practice. The civilian doctor has received benefits worth $1 out of 125 million. 083 Million, essentially a draw.
Do military doctors get deployed?
Military doctors can be sent out to provide aid following natural disasters. For example, Navy physicians have traveled on the U. S. Navy Ship (USNS) Comfort to provide aid to earthquake victims. This mission’s humanitarian component may also include aiding civilians in conflict areas.
