Billet options - need advice

[ncsunavypac]

Hello all,

I'm a 2nd year PA-S, aprx 6 months out from graduation and commissioning. I'm currently in the Navy HSCP program and have begun to chat with a detailer about my options. My dream sheet is probably similar to most everyone else out there and includes NMC San Diego, Charleston, Portsmouth, Bethesda, Pensacola to name a few. A month ago the detailer gave me options of Mayport, FL, El Centro, CA, and Cherry Point, NC. At the time I asked her to pencil me in for Mayport with the hopes that my options would shift as the months edge closer to commissioning. After contacting her again today, my options have changed to include China Lake,  CA, Great Lakes, IL, and Kings Bay, GA. My husband and I want to stay in as metropolitan of an area as possible due to personal preference, and due to the fact that he works in the finance industry and would have more job opportunities in a metro area. I wanted to ask if anyone has any specific advice/comments/concerns/pros/cons concerning Mayport vs. Great Lakes? I've been in FL for 3 years, and am currently here for school. He's been in FL for about 6 years and is wanting a change of scenery. We are tentatively okay with Mayport but are considering the possibility of Great Lakes due to the close proximity to Chicago, however neither of us have ever lived in winters that cold (we are both from NC originally.) He seems to think we could suck up the weather for 3 years for the pay off of getting to live near a great city with lots of things to do, job opportunities, etc. (Side note: neither of us have ever been to Chicago!) I am personally more comfortable with the prospect of being in a larger facility with access to more resources i.e. Great Lakes vs. being in a smaller facility for my first job as a PA i.e. Mayport. That also begs the question - has anyone actually worked at Great Lakes as a PA or in any other capacity? I feel quite lost as to which direction I'm leaning and I'm simply searching for more information from people that have actually worked in these places.

 

If anyone has any insight I'd love to talk to you!

[cop to pa]

I was in great Lakes for basic and my A school back in the 90's. I was also looking back there for rosalyn franklin PA school. The wind off the great Lakes makes it feel 15 degrees colder than the weather says. To live in Chicago, it's a train ride. The housing in great Lakes is not great (lower socio-economic) in a lot of areas. So, it's either commute everyday or be colder and far away from chicago.

 

Never been to Mayport.

[ncsunavypac]

Thanks for your insight! We would probably plan to live halfway between Great Lakes and city center Chicago, esp if he ended up getting a job in downtown Chicago. But that's an entirely different issue considering we don't know the area at all and would need a lot of help knowing where to live/finding a place to live.

I was in great Lakes for basic and my A school back in the 90's. I was also looking back there for rosalyn franklin PA school. The wind off the great Lakes makes it feel 15 degrees colder than the weather says. To live in Chicago, it's a train ride. The housing in great Lakes is not great (lower socio-economic) in a lot of areas. So, it's either commute everyday or be colder and far away from chicago.

Never been to Mayport.

[HMtoPA]

Chicago is awesome, but it is about an hour train ride from NS Great Lakes (the good news is the train goes right to the NS - but I don't know how convenient the station is to the new(-ish) hospital). I've also never been there in the winter, and have heard it can be pretty brutal. But people do it all the time, so it can't be that bad! At least you wouldn't have to drive too much in bad weather (assuming you took the train, I mean). 

 

If it were me, I'd consider living in Evanston, if you can afford it. Not a bad area in and of itself, and a shorter commute in both directions for you and your husband. Plus closer proximity to Chicago for you for the weekends.

 

Not sure what working at the FHCC would be like. If you go to a smaller command, like a clinic (i.e., Mayport) you're virtually guaranteed to end up doing Family Medicine. At a hospital, especially a bigger one, I think all bets are off. I have a buddy who ended up in Ortho for his first gig, and another in Gen Surg for his first, and yet another in the ED. I'm transferring to a hospital this summer, and from what I understand I will be going to Family Med, but only because the Urgent Care (where the PA billet used to be) was recently closed. My understanding is that FHCC has several PA billets, so who knows where you might end up. I'm sure at least some of them are at the Boot Camp clinics (rather than the hospital itself), seeing Sick Call for recruits all day, so consider that.

[ncsunavypac]

Chicago is awesome, but it is about an hour train ride from NS Great Lakes (the good news is the train goes right to the NS - but I don't know how convenient the station is to the new(-ish) hospital). I've also never been there in the winter, and have heard it can be pretty brutal. But people do it all the time, so it can't be that bad! At least you wouldn't have to drive too much in bad weather (assuming you took the train, I mean). 

 

If it were me, I'd consider living in Evanston, if you can afford it. Not a bad area in and of itself, and a shorter commute in both directions for you and your husband. Plus closer proximity to Chicago for you for the weekends.

 

Not sure what working at the FHCC would be like. If you go to a smaller command, like a clinic (i.e., Mayport) you're virtually guaranteed to end up doing Family Medicine. At a hospital, especially a bigger one, I think all bets are off. I have a buddy who ended up in Ortho for his first gig, and another in Gen Surg for his first, and yet another in the ED. I'm transferring to a hospital this summer, and from what I understand I will be going to Family Med, but only because the Urgent Care (where the PA billet used to be) was recently closed. My understanding is that FHCC has several PA billets, so who knows where you might end up. I'm sure at least some of them are at the Boot Camp clinics (rather than the hospital itself), seeing Sick Call for recruits all day, so consider that.

 

Thanks for the response! I actually emailed the detailer this morning and asked for clarification on Great Lakes because there are so many clinics within the system and I wasn't sure if that meant I'd be in the hospital, outpt clinic, etc. I was looking at Evanston yesterday because it seemed to be perfectly in the middle between the two areas so I'm glad to know I'm looking in the right places. I think what it comes down to is a personal question of, can we deal with the weather? Seems silly but after living in the southeast US for my entire life, midwest winters would be a huge transition and if I have the choice, I'm not quite sure I want to choose to freeze for 6+ months out of the year. Definitely will need to do some more soul searching. Also in general just hoping that my options continue to change as each  week passes by. Still crossing my fingers and holding out for some of my preferences to pop up.

[ncsunavypac]

Don't know if anyone will see me posting this on the same thread but I have a few more questions for whoever would like to answer - As a brand new PA, 25 years old, fresh out of school with minimal prior medical experience, in your opinion, would it be better to go to a duty station where there are more PAs vs. a duty station with essentially none? After speaking with a PA out of Cherry Point, NC, he told me that I'd have a great network of support, being a part of a large PA community because there are lots of PAs at Cherry Point. Vs. Mayport it's looking like there is currently only one PA there.... and it's the one I'd be replacing due to retirement. Is this a good enough reason to pick one location over another? 

[cop to pa]

I don't think it'll make a difference. You're new, and will have supervision at either place. It's doubtful they'd stick you someplace solo as a new grad. And, if they did, it could happen at either duty station.

[Boatswain2PA]

Thanks for the response! I actually emailed the detailer this morning and asked for clarification on Great Lakes because there are so many clinics within the system and I wasn't sure if that meant I'd be in the hospital, outpt clinic, etc. I was looking at Evanston yesterday because it seemed to be perfectly in the middle between the two areas so I'm glad to know I'm looking in the right places. I think what it comes down to is a personal question of, can we deal with the weather? Seems silly but after living in the southeast US for my entire life, midwest winters would be a huge transition and if I have the choice, I'm not quite sure I want to choose to freeze for 6+ months out of the year. Definitely will need to do some more soul searching. Also in general just hoping that my options continue to change as each  week passes by. Still crossing my fingers and holding out for some of my preferences to pop up.

 

It is not my intent for this to come across as harsh, but I want to give you a little perspective.

 

You're complaining about possibly going to Chicago and working in an air conditioned/heated clinic/hospital.  You're not wearing kevlar because nobody is actively trying to kill you (well, it IS Chicago, so maybe Kevlar isn't a bad idea).  You will likely have max of 12 hour shifts, terrific time off, sleep in your own bed every night with your spouse, your kids in the next room, and go out to eat wherever you want. 

 

Meanwhile you are joining the MILITARY.  Many of the young people you will be caring for will be deploying for six months at a time on a ship where they have a rack and a locker to call their own, and won't see their spouses/kids for that entire time.  Some of them will be sent to the mountains or to the desert where much of the local population wants to remove their head from their torso, sleeping on cots and thankful for the 30 minutes they get to VOIP with their family.  Some of them will be entombed in a submarine, unable to smell fresh air or see the sun, for six months.  

 

Just keep that in mind while you're walking from the train station to your warm and comfy office, with your hot coffee in hand, that while those few minutes may suck in cold and windy Chicago, the amount of suck that you will have as a REMF clinician is nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, compared to the suck that many of your ACDU/Res patients have gone through so that you and your family can sleep peacefully at night.  

 

Oh, by the way, if any of them started whining about the cold, some crusty old bastard (like me) would probably call them a few choice names and then tell them to f'in SUCK IT UP.  

 

Again, not trying to be harsh with you, just putting things in perspective.  Please remember that when you're treating our nation's heroes and families.  

 

Thank you, in advance, for your service to our country and to these young men and women.

 

Crusty old retired Senior Chief sends....