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I'm an IMG and am lacking US clinical experience. I was wondering if working in the US Air Force as a mental health specialist would help me get a Psychiatry residency if I chose to apply later on?
Would working as a mental health specialist in the Air Force help get a Psychiatry residency?
- Thread starter NeedToStudy
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I'm taking from your question that you are thinking of graduating medical school internationally with an MD and then joining the Air Force? I believe that the Air Force mental health specialists go through the two month course at Fort Sam Houston. This is an enlisted occupational specialty, and as most of your colleagues will have high school level educations, this is the level at which the course will be taught. You will finish training and serve in a counselor-level role, essentially delivering short training briefs on suicide, substance abuse, and the like, and will be point-of-contact for your unit to refer airmen you see at risk for actual treatment by psychiatrists or (more likely) LCSWs.
The only logic I can see to this plan is if you lack U.S. citizenship and are looking to get it (you can get fast tracked for a green card by enlisting). Even so, the military has a program set up where you enlist on a track to become an officer and attend military residency and get citizenship, which would make a lot more sense.
I tried looking at your past posts to figure out if you were American or foreign-born and couldn't tell from quickly scanning. But given all of your traffic about looking into leaving medicine altogether for law and other careers, you strike me as someone who is still searching for what they want to do. Enlisting in the military is a fine way to find out if you are thinking college-vs-auto-detailing and the like, but a terrible choice for doctors. You will likely find you don't enjoy the military and you are stuck for the duration of your enlistment.
And to answer your question, no it likely wouldn't help you get a psychiatry residency. That sort experience would rate as a nice extracurricular if done prior to college or prior to medical school, but post-medical school it would likely (and wisely) be seen as a big red flag. You would be at least four years post-medical school graduation doing something that can be done with a GED and 8 weeks of training. This is not good experience. You would be hurting your chances.
The only logic I can see to this plan is if you lack U.S. citizenship and are looking to get it (you can get fast tracked for a green card by enlisting). Even so, the military has a program set up where you enlist on a track to become an officer and attend military residency and get citizenship, which would make a lot more sense.
I tried looking at your past posts to figure out if you were American or foreign-born and couldn't tell from quickly scanning. But given all of your traffic about looking into leaving medicine altogether for law and other careers, you strike me as someone who is still searching for what they want to do. Enlisting in the military is a fine way to find out if you are thinking college-vs-auto-detailing and the like, but a terrible choice for doctors. You will likely find you don't enjoy the military and you are stuck for the duration of your enlistment.
And to answer your question, no it likely wouldn't help you get a psychiatry residency. That sort experience would rate as a nice extracurricular if done prior to college or prior to medical school, but post-medical school it would likely (and wisely) be seen as a big red flag. You would be at least four years post-medical school graduation doing something that can be done with a GED and 8 weeks of training. This is not good experience. You would be hurting your chances.
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It would help but it'll likely be better vs not having this experience and not comparable to actual US clinical experience.
