Indian Health Service (IHS)

[amandalynnPA]

Does anyone have experience working for the IHS? I graduate in August 2023 and am considering applying, looking for some insight! Pros/cons, reservation living, pay scale, new grad training, etc.  

TYIA! 

[SedRate]

I know an anesthesiologist who worked for IHS right outta residency. He said it was a great way to start his career and raise his young family as he had on-campus housing and learned/did a ton. He then left for the city as his kids got older and his wife wanted more of a city life. 

I don't work for an IHS facility but I receive transfers/consults/calls from multiple IHS facilities, and the docs sometimes sound exasperated. They also don't always have radiologists available to read films in the middle of the night so they're often left to read their own (and then usually call me to see what I think) and they have limited admit abilities, so they're often trying to get the pt transferred which can be difficult and frustrating. You can sorta liken this to a rural facility with limited resources. 

Not sure if this helps but in my observation, it seems like they're under-resourced and understaffed. But in all honesty, that's kinda how a lot of hospitals are right now. 

I'd say check it out, talk with potential teammates exhaustively, and see what you think. 

[ohiovolffemtp]

SedRate's experience matches mine.  At an ED I staff at night in AZ, the local IHS facility closes at 20:00.  Usually by 20:15 I get a call from the provider wanting to transfer a patient or 2.  Sometimes the workup is OK, sometimes not.  They definitely have very limited specialty resources and some funny rules about how patients can get their scripts filled.  For the most part, the IHS providers are early in their career and less experienced.