Dichotomy Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Hello all, Can those experienced with these two settings, please comment. I am currently a FT VA ortho PA, thinking of joining air force as Ortho PA. 35 yo, Family with 3 young kids. Also have an MPH degree. A year out of PA school. I appreciate any feedback, advise, guide, opinions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatswain2PA Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Don't go into military unless you are ready, able and willing to deploy. Wayyy too many people go into military for benefits instead of service. NOT Saying thats you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cc56 Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 Agree with Boatswain2PA. The best thing I ever did was go into the military! With that said I was young and wanted to go as far away from home as i could. So I went to Korea, are you ready to go to Korea with your family? Are you ready for living overseas for a few years? Are you ready to deploy by yourself and get attached to a group of people you may have never met? Is your family ready? If you say yes to this and want to serve then I think it is amazing! Amazing group of people, amazing experiences, pride in uniform, great benefits as a whole (VA loan, repayment of loans, Medical, pension...) On the flip side there will be tough times and frustrating times, you are in a contract and have to stay. I bring up the hardest things because that can happen. On this flip side you may end up at Travis in California outside of San Francisco and have a normal 9-5 job, never deploy, get good housing, and have a cushy job. Expect the worst, and hope for the best. As far as the VA I have not worked in one. My wife did it and was unhappy (she is a veteran and was a surgical scrub). Apparently it is VA to VA as to how things go. I did some rotations in a VA in school, seemed ok in California. I got a job offer in Phoenix for Ortho, there they had no residents so I guess I would have done the job/1st assist in surgery. I also got offered a job in Chicago in ER, there I would have been provider in triage only basically. I would be discharging basic stuff, residents get everything else. (FYI I did not proof read, forgive mistakes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dichotomy Posted September 7, 2018 Author Share Posted September 7, 2018 Thank you for these inputs B2PA and CC56. I appreciate your insight. I agree with all that you commented. Deployment and such. I am absolutely fine with getting deployed. Although I thought the AF is more stable than most of the other branches, and being an officer equals "possibly" better experience in term of pay, work demand, family need balance, etc... I am also drawn to the AF PA residency that will get me a Dr. after my years of service. I still searching for more info on this last point in term of how long do i have to wait before starting the residency, is there an exam to take for acceptance or once you show interest you are guarantee to do it and can start ASAP. Also I have an AF base in the city where I live that always seeks PAs in ortho. My other question is can I request and be guarantee an Ortho position especially since my current position in the VA in ortho? My plan is to do the Ortho residency in the AF and work in the field after that. Finally, is there a required years of service post residency? Thanks in advance for any info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas5814 Posted September 7, 2018 Share Posted September 7, 2018 Retired Army here. You can ask to be "guaranteed" anything but, at the end of the day, the needs of the service supercede everything. They will honor agreements the vast majority of the time but mission comes before all else. I agree the AF is probably a bit more stable but let me promise you every deployment I went on there were tons of AF folks deployed too. Now I was living in a hole in the ground and they were getting their skivvies washed by the house boy in the air conditioned building they stayed in..... You can apply for a residency as soon as your feet hit the ground. If you are competing with folks who have years of prior service you are probably at a disadvantage. The military doesn't give anything for nothing. If you do a residency you will owe time. I can't tell you how much because I retired in 96 and those things change all the time. I owed 4 years for PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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