MD in the Army?

[futurefamilydoc]

I really doubt they would increase it suddenly from 4 years to 15 years. If they are really short of physicians in the CF then almost quadrupling the length of obligatory service seems a bit counterproductive. I could possibly see it going up to 6 or 8 years, but from 4 to 15 seems extreme.

 

Maybe the recruiter was counting from the time you initially start med school? If you add 4 years of med school + residency + obligatory time after that would make a bit more sense.

[IgnoranceReductase]

Not for an MD, I believe you are thinking of the typical officer.

 

Not many recruiters are familiar with the program since many will never see applicants for it. My university had recruiters at a career day thingy and they didn't even know about it despite having a nearby medical college in town.

 

But anyways, the documents are pretty explicit about the matter; it's 4 years. Afterwards, if you stick around you're promoted to major and jump aboard a better pay scale.

[Para D]

1) It is 4 years of service at completion of residency, which has to be family, no if, ands, or buts (CNS exam joke)

 

2) After you have completed your first 4 years terms of service (TOS) you may attempt to rematch and get a second approved specialty from the list of approved specialties. This is dependent on whether they require that specialty at that time and if they are the mood to pay for you.

 

3) You are eligible for promotion to major at the end of your first TOS but you still have to go through the same process as everyone else for promotion and it will be dependent on your ability to speak French and how you rank with your peers.

 

4) The army is going through massive cuts everywhere. This is potentially the worst time in history you could join. No one is deploying anywhere and there is little cash for training and travel. Anyone who can is getting out, that is why MOTP has opened up. I have said this so many times over the last few years it is getting a little old, but coming from a 12 year veteran with multiple deployments I will say this one last time: do not join the army, it is not worth it, if you really want to, join the reserves, you won't get the cash but you have the choice, and that is worth all the money in the world. If you really really really want to wear green, join the US or British army when you are done with undergrad.

 

5) The army hires civilian doctors to work on most bases. They even hire them to go overseas. The only reason they need doctors in uniform is to send them to places no one wants to go, like on ship tours (navy), or up North, or the middle of no where (Shilo Manitoba). This used to be a good deal before the emergence of the LOC. It is a terrible deal now. I am friends with multiple past-CF doctors, current CF nurses, and people in all trades in the army. It is a terrible place to be right now and that isn't changing anytime soon.

 

Think really really hard before you do something like this. Best of luck to everyone.

[Jochi1543]

4) The army is going through massive cuts everywhere. This is potentially the worst time in history you could join. No one is deploying anywhere and there is little cash for training and travel. Anyone who can is getting out, that is why MOTP has opened up. I have said this so many times over the last few years it is getting a little old, but coming from a 12 year veteran with multiple deployments I will say this one last time: do not join the army, it is not worth it, if you really want to, join the reserves, you won't get the cash but you have the choice, and that is worth all the money in the world. If you really really really want to wear green, join the US or British army when you are done with undergrad.

 

5) The army hires civilian doctors to work on most bases. They even hire them to go overseas. The only reason they need doctors in uniform is to send them to places no one wants to go, like on ship tours (navy), or up North, or the middle of no where (Shilo Manitoba). This used to be a good deal before the emergence of the LOC. It is a terrible deal now. I am friends with multiple past-CF doctors, current CF nurses, and people in all trades in the army. It is a terrible place to be right now and that isn't changing anytime soon.

 

Think really really hard before you do something like this. Best of luck to everyone.

Preach it, bro!

[tooty]

5) The army hires civilian doctors to work on most bases. They even hire them to go overseas.

 

Where can I look up more details on this? The blurb on http://www.forces.ca/en/job/medicalofficer-50#parttimeemployment doesn't say much. What's the commitment like? How much freedom do you have in selecting overseas sites? What's the compensation?

[tooty]

I used to work in staffing, and here in Ottawa a lot of doctors and dentists are contracted to CF by staffing agencies.

Working for such agencies has it's own pros and cons.

 

Why don't you share with us what those pros and cons are

[Jochi1543]

Why don't you share with us what those pros and cons are

Let me share a few I am aware of:

 

Pros: you are not a CAF member, therefore, you do not get deployed and do not deal with all the other BS; you have a lighter patient load than you would in a regular clinic; there is no overhead or weekend/overnight call; your patients are generally young and healthy; no obs, no peds, no geri, and tons of sports med and psych.

 

Cons: you get paid way less than if you worked efficiently in your own clinic (of course, if you are incapable of seeing more than 3 pts an hour or have an insane overhead, this may be a different story); you are not a CAF member, which means no sweet pension or 7 weeks of leave out of the deal; your skills atrophy because all you see is young healthy people who are almost all male and there is a significant number of malingerers that you have to keep an eye out for; sports med all day = might as well commit seppuku.

[mm88]

 

2) After you have completed your first 4 years terms of service (TOS) you may attempt to rematch and get a second approved specialty from the list of approved specialties. This is dependent on whether they require that specialty at that time and if they are the mood to pay for you.

 

This is also getting nixed for good, all specialist positions are being transferred into reservist or civilian contracts. I had contemplated becoming a lifer when I signed my contract 2 years ago but now this is going out the door, I have absolutely no incentive to stay; rural FM/EM is much more interesting and pays far better!