Can I work as a physician in multiple branches of the military

[Jcar1]

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if it is possible to work in multiple branches of the military as a physician. For example work in the army for four years, then the navy for another period of time, and finally the air-force for another period.

Also does working in multiple branches still add up to the 20 years needed to retire with pension?

Finally for my military commitment period of 7 years after going to USUHS will i be able to change which branch i am a physician for or do i have to work all 7 years in one branch first?

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[usma05]

Why is this your goal? I'm sure anything is possible, but the bureaucracy is onerous to transfer services just once. Your best bet is joint work (e.g. stateside working at a MEDCEN like Walter Reed (Army/Navy) or BAMC (Army/AF). Or while deployed being at a larger base with our sister services. Juice doesn't sound worth the squeeze for your request personally.

 

[Jcar1]

Why is this your goal? I'm sure anything is possible, but the bureaucracy is onerous to transfer services just once. Your best bet is joint work (e.g. stateside working at a MEDCEN like Walter Reed (Army/Navy) or BAMC (Army/AF). Or while deployed being at a larger base with our sister services. Juice doesn't sound worth the squeeze for your request personally.

Thanks for your reply!
Honestly I hadn't even thought of joint work stateside so that is definitely something I am going to look into.
Also I haven't yet worked in the military so do you think you can explain to me the bureaucracy in play? Reading through these forums I have heard a lot about it, but I don't exactly know what they are talking about.

 

[usma05]

Thanks for your reply!
Honestly I hadn't even thought of joint work stateside so that is definitely something I am going to look into.
Also I haven't yet worked in the military so do you think you can explain to me the bureaucracy in play? Reading through these forums I have heard a lot about it, but I don't exactly know what they are talking about.

Ok. Ill try. How long do you have? The military's interest in you stop at the accomplishment of the mission. Which is great when your a super flexible individual or the rare time your interest align. At the end of the day, you'll be promised the world and sold on some version that is not reality. Doing anything different than usual: moving or staying at different intervals than prescribed, trying to switch services, trying to improve your hospital (especially if it costs money), etc. will be hard to accomplish because the institution is use to and tries to enforce the status quo. You need serious rank to be afforded the opportunity for change, and as a doctor, you start at a decrement vs the line units unless your a commander somehow.

I could go on and on, but I think you might want to seek out opinions of people you know in the military or find a way to spend time with your local guard/reserves unit to get a better sense for how Uncle Sam is going to treat you.

 

[Jcar1]

Ok. Ill try. How long do you have? The military's interest in you stop at the accomplishment of the mission. Which is great when your a super flexible individual or the rare time your interest align. At the end of the day, you'll be promised the world and sold on some version that is not reality. Doing anything different than usual: moving or staying at different intervals than prescribed, trying to switch services, trying to improve your hospital (especially if it costs money), etc. will be hard to accomplish because the institution is use to and tries to enforce the status quo. You need serious rank to be afforded the opportunity for change, and as a doctor, you start at a decrement vs the line units unless your a commander somehow.

I could go on and on, but I think you might want to seek out opinions of people you know in the military or find a way to spend time with your local guard/reserves unit to get a better sense for how Uncle Sam is going to treat you.

Hmm ok you definitely gave me some insight to think about. I am going to reach out to some friends in the military and research further. Thank you for your help!

 

[TheEarDoc]

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if it is possible to work in multiple branches of the military as a physician. For example work in the army for four years, then the navy for another period of time, and finally the air-force for another period.

Also does working in multiple branches still add up to the 20 years needed to retire with pension?

Finally for my military commitment period of 7 years after going to USUHS will i be able to change which branch i am a physician for or do i have to work all 7 years in one branch first?

Pretty much no. Whatever branch you sign for under USUHS will own you for the full term of your contract. When that is up can you switch to another branch? Maybe. Depends on your specialty and the needs of the service. I've had folks in courses in the Army who were previously Navy or Air Force who switched to Army (usually to reserves) after their initial commitment with their starting branch was done.

I am going to tell you the risk you run by trying to hop branches.
1. Losing rank. This doesn't happen as much with officers as enlisted, but can happen.
2. Getting out of one branch and transferring to another you can be denied commission with a different branch due to health
issues that pop up on separation/transfer of branch. You are not always going to be young, fit, and healthy. Life has a way
of catching up to us all

So yes you can theoretically hop from say the Navy or Air Force over to Army or to the Army Reserves, Air Force Reserves, or Army/Air National Guard. Commissioned officers do do it. My former CO was a Navy nurse officer was around 10 years then switched to Army Reserves. My advice though would be if you want to try this voodoo then you start off in one of the more selective branches say Air Force or Navy first as the Army has more medical billets (especially now with the cuts!) and seems to be a little more lax on standards from what I've seen. So you might have some ability to do a hitch in the Navy or Air Force then jump over to the regular army or guard for Navy/Air force or reserves or Army reserves to finish out your career and then just jump on multiple deployments/mobilizations.

As the other poster said, your best bet would be pick a branch and then try and get assignments at large joint bases. Air Force or Army would be your best bet for this, especially Air Force. If I were to tell you to join a branch it would be Air Force.

 

[Jcar1]

Pretty much no. Whatever branch you sign for under USUHS will own you for the full term of your contract. When that is up can you switch to another branch? Maybe. Depends on your specialty and the needs of the service. I've had folks in courses in the Army who were previously Navy or Air Force who switched to Army (usually to reserves) after their initial commitment with their starting branch was done.

I am going to tell you the risk you run by trying to hop branches.
1. Losing rank. This doesn't happen as much with officers as enlisted, but can happen.
2. Getting out of one branch and transferring to another you can be denied commission with a different branch due to health
issues that pop up on separation/transfer of branch. You are not always going to be young, fit, and healthy. Life has a way
of catching up to us all

So yes you can theoretically hop from say the Navy or Air Force over to Army or to the Army Reserves, Air Force Reserves, or Army/Air National Guard. Commissioned officers do do it. My former CO was a Navy nurse officer was around 10 years then switched to Army Reserves. My advice though would be if you want to try this voodoo then you start off in one of the more selective branches say Air Force or Navy first as the Army has more medical billets (especially now with the cuts!) and seems to be a little more lax on standards from what I've seen. So you might have some ability to do a hitch in the Navy or Air Force then jump over to the regular army or guard for Navy/Air force or reserves or Army reserves to finish out your career and then just jump on multiple deployments/mobilizations.

As the other poster said, your best bet would be pick a branch and then try and get assignments at large joint bases. Air Force or Army would be your best bet for this, especially Air Force. If I were to tell you to join a branch it would be Air Force.

Wow thank you for your indepth answer. This definitely helped allay my confusion on the topic. I was leaning towards airforce/navy to begin with and this helped me set it in stone. Thanks again!

 

[Vandalia]

Yes, it is theoretically possible. Once your active duty service commitment is over you essentially become a free agent.

With radical changes taking place in military medicine, it is also possible that a transfer can be arranged if a particular specialty is needed in only one service. As an example, decades ago, all veterinary services were transferred to the Army. "Vets" in the Air Force (at least) were given the option to transfer to the Army and remain vets, or to stay in the Air Force doing generic public health work in the BSC.

In the same way, if as a random example, all pediatric cardiology slots are in the Navy, and you are in the Army, you would likely be offered the option to transfer to the Navy or practice general pediatrics in the Army.

I knew a Navy family med doc who switched to the Air Force. He had his "dolphins" before entering med school, and there were rumors that the Navy wanted to put physicians on the ballistic missile submarines. He realized that as a family med guy with his dolphins, he would be first on the list, so he switched to the AF as soon as he could.

But to echo the earlier answers, pick a branch and stick with it. There are weird scenarios where you can transfer, but trying to snake your way through the different services trying to maximize opportunities will end in disaster.

 

[Jcar1]

Yes, it is theoretically possible. Once your active duty service commitment is over you essentially become a free agent.

With radical changes taking place in military medicine, it is also possible that a transfer can be arranged if a particular specialty is needed in only one service. As an example, decades ago, all veterinary services were transferred to the Army. "Vets" in the Air Force (at least) were given the option to transfer to the Army and remain vets, or to stay in the Air Force doing generic public health work in the BSC.

In the same way, if as a random example, all pediatric cardiology slots are in the Navy, and you are in the Army, you would likely be offered the option to transfer to the Navy or practice general pediatrics in the Army.

I knew a Navy family med doc who switched to the Air Force. He had his "dolphins" before entering med school, and there were rumors that the Navy wanted to put physicians on the ballistic missile submarines. He realized that as a family med guy with his dolphins, he would be first on the list, so he switched to the AF as soon as he could.

But to echo the earlier answers, pick a branch and stick with it. There are weird scenarios where you can transfer, but trying to snake your way through the different services trying to maximize opportunities will end in disaster.

Thanks for the reply! and gotcha, ya it seems like that is the general consensus to pick one and stick with it. Its nice at least to know I have the option to switch after. It is a tough pick right now between navy and Air force so I'm definitely gonna research more on it.

 

[Apollyon]

Thanks for the reply! and gotcha, ya it seems like that is the general consensus to pick one and stick with it. Its nice at least to know I have the option to switch after. It is a tough pick right now between navy and Air force so I'm definitely gonna research more on it.

"General consensus" vastly understates it. Service transfer among MC is, almost, rare enough that to name when it occurred would skyline whomever did it.

 

[armytrainingsir]

Most physicians find just one service intolerable enough to need to repeat the experience with a sister service.