In case you've made it to this board, you find a growing number of military docs frustrated by interruptions in training, long deployments, in between dealing with the machine and all its paperwork/PME/AAD (this is not a typo, BTZ LT Col requires an AAD not your MD) and nurse commanders who scream and yell and throw clip boards.

I invite you to peruse:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=72

Mostly cheddar. The green papery kind.

BTZ LT Col requires an AAD not your MD)

This is funny - but sadly doesn't surprise me.

AADs are such a sham.

In case you've made it to this board, you find a growing number of military docs frustrated by interruptions in training, long deployments, in between dealing with the machine and all its paperwork/PME/AAD (this is not a typo, BTZ LT Col requires an AAD not your MD) and nurse commanders who scream and yell and throw clip boards.

I invite you to peruse:

https://forums.studen...isplay.php?f=72

Do ITZ Lt Col boards required this too?

Damn, and here I thought professional bitching was reserved for well-to-do pylets with an inflated self-assessment of labor market value. These docs make pylets look like selfless leper-cleaning nuns.....

Damn, and here I thought professional bitching was reserved for well-to-do pylets with an inflated self-assessment of labor market value. These docs make pylets look like selfless leper-cleaning nuns.....

How many AF doctors are M.D.s? How many are D.O.s? Big difference when it comes to civilian hiring...

I thought all AF Docs got out after 4 years.

I thought all AF Docs got out after 4 years.

The good ones do.

That is a great stereotype to perpetuate.

That is a great stereotype to perpetuate.

But if it's always true, then...

My wife's uncle was an AF lawyer before switching to the Reserves and having a successful civilian career. His advice: refuse to be seen by any active duty doctor with silver leaves or chickens on his shoulders. His very sound reasoning was if the doc could have gotten out and gone to private practice, he would have.

Untrue, unless you are a board certified specialist you can actually make more (when the medical bonus is included), as a senior Dr in the Air Force. I know several who have run the math and with the cost of malpractice insurance it was a simple financial choice for some to stay in.

Untrue, unless you are a board certified specialist you can actually make more (when the medical bonus is included), as a senior Dr in the Air Force. I know several who have run the math and with the cost of malpractice insurance it was a simple financial choice for some to stay in.

This. However, most of the flight surgeons I've known over the years have been chomping at the bit to go into a specialty. I know one who became a urologist and is making bank, and another in residency for ophthalmology who will be making bank when he leaves. On the flip side, I know another who got out to do the private practice thing, and came right back for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

My wife's uncle was an AF lawyer before switching to the Reserves and having a successful civilian career. His advice: refuse to be seen by any active duty doctor with silver leaves or chickens on his shoulders. His very sound reasoning was if the doc could have gotten out and gone to private practice, he would have.

You can say the same about many different career fields.

Some people think serving their country is more important than money. Some doctors might want to do more than treat colds...Some surgeons might want to do more than give heart surgeries to fat people. We might not have the greatest doctors overall but that doesn't mean that the doctors that stay in for the right reasons are incompetent.

Edited January 15, 201312 yr by one

I went to your link Motrin, just for the hell of it. My head hurt halfway into the second post.

Hey speaking of aches and pains, how 'bout you hook a brother up? I'm just about winchester on my stash of Vitamin M horsepills.

Very interesting. I remember being 16 years old and asking three doctors I respected if I should pursue becoming an MD. All said "NO!" If a 16 year old asked me now if they should pursue becoming an Air Force pilot, I would still say "YES!"

If a 16 year old asked me now if they should pursue becoming an Air Force pilot, I would still say "YES!"

Some days that's easier to do than others.

True.

Some days that's easier to do than others.

Those days are referred to as "Fly days", or "Holidays". As opposed to "training days", "office days", "PT days", "PHA days", "wing down days", "ORI days", "ORE days", "UCI days"...

Those days are referred to as "Fly days", or "Holidays". As opposed to "training days", "office days", "PT days", "PHA days", "wing down days", "ORI days", "ORE days", "UCI days"...

Even the "fly" days are painful sometimes because I know how much shit is piling up while I'm away.

If a 16 year old asked me now if they should pursue becoming an Air Force pilot, I would still say "YES!"

Same...Until they fuck with the retirement. Or extend the commitment again.

Untrue, unless you are a board certified specialist you can actually make more (when the medical bonus is included), as a senior Dr in the Air Force. I know several who have run the math and with the cost of malpractice insurance it was a simple financial choice for some to stay in.

My post is based off advice that was almost twenty years old when it was given to me 10 years ago, so I took it with a grain of salt. Plus I've always assumed there was some kind of doctor/lawyer rivalry involved in there.

I just like to post unsubstantiated claims on the Internet and see if they'll make it in to some kind of chain e-mail and maybe even Snopes someday.

My wife's uncle was an AF lawyer before switching to the Reserves and having a successful civilian career. His advice: refuse to be seen by any active duty doctor with silver leaves or chickens on his shoulders. His very sound reasoning was if the doc could have gotten out and gone to private practice, he would have.

Pretty broad brush to apply to a large and diverse group of docs. Some people actually do serve because they feel obligated or called to serve in the US military, even if that means personal or professional sacrifice. This doesn't mean these individuals are incompetent or inferior to their civilian counterparts. This makes up at least one category of the higher ranking physicians in the DoD.

There are also a large number of senior (and high-ranking) docs who were HIGHLY successful in the civilian sector, but either became unsatisfied or bored in the civilian sector and signed on the dotted line. Anyone that wants to criticize someone who joined the military in their later years and took a pay cut of 50-70% in a medical subspecialty that has a critical need in the military ought to try it themselves.

I'm curious what wife's uncle would have to say about AF lawyers?

Pretty broad brush to apply to a large and diverse group of docs. Some people actually do serve because they feel obligated or called to serve in the US military, even if that means personal or professional sacrifice. This doesn't mean these individuals are incompetent or inferior to their civilian counterparts. This makes up at least one category of the higher ranking physicians in the DoD.

There are also a large number of senior (and high-ranking) docs who were HIGHLY successful in the civilian sector, but either became unsatisfied or bored in the civilian sector and signed on the dotted line. Anyone that wants to criticize someone who joined the military in their later years and took a pay cut of 50-70% in a medical subspecialty that has a critical need in the military ought to try it themselves.

I'm curious what wife's uncle would have to say about AF lawyers?

One of the best docs I have seen in the AF was an O-6 that did emergency back surgery for one of the tanker pilots from the deployed unit downrange.

Many active duty docs also moonlight while they are on active duty. I know one that makes the same amount in three days in the civilian sector moonlighting as she does during a month on active duty. Add in the annual retention bonus and free healthcare for the family and the pay differential is not that big.