Advice for Medical Officer Training Program?

[canlrn96]

Is anyone here a part of the MTOP offered by the military?

Just wanted to get some of your wisdom, I can't seem to find some details.

For example what is the difference between reserve and actual officer as far as the differences about what the program offers each?

Do you like it so far? any regrets?

What are the pros and cons?

[NLengr]

I'm not in the forces but I'm pretty sure MOTP means you are going in full time and not the reserve forces.

One person in my class did it. They seem to like it. They've been in it for 7 years now. They're on an aerospace medicine course/appointment down in Ohio right now.

You have to be prepared to do family medicine since that's the only residency they will let you do right out of med school.

[Rahvin13]

Hey, take a look at the medical officer thread on the army.ca forums. There is lots of info there. I’m not a med student or doctor but I was in the regular forces for a few years, and have looked into MO before so I’ll tell you what I know from that perspective. 

There is a big difference between reserve and regular force in general and for MO’s. Reserve medical officer is people who have their own civilian practice and then work “part-time” for the forces doing various clinical or administrative things, usually onenight a week-ish plus some weekends. You are paid an hourly/daily wage during those times. There is no free education/guaranteed residency spots associated with this. You  usually complete your basic training on weekends with your reserve unit and then your MO health services training in Borden Ontario. You can choose whether or not you wish to deploy. 

Regular force MO, you are employed full time with the forces. They pay for medical school if you’re a med student and if you’re a resident/practicing physician give you a large signing bonus. They also pay you wages as a med student on top of paying your tuition. As a reg force MO you are salaried, there is no fee for service in the forces. The pay is slightly less to substantially less than civilian physicians however there is zero overhead, they even pay all your licensing/exam fees. You also get a very very good pension along with full benefits. In the past, you were guaranteed a family residency spot (thats all they let you do out of school). You have to already be a med student/resident/physician to be accepted into the MOTP. You normally complete your basic training full time in Quebec during the summer between m1 and m2 or sometime after residency. You do MO training in Borden. You can be posted anywhere in Canada or abroad and you have no choice whether or not to go if you’re deployed.

Hope that gives you some info. Most of it should be correct, check the other forum or talk to a recruiter to be sure though.