So I am thinking about joining the Air Force as a Physician during my Residency....

[charlottenian]

A friend of mine in residency joined the AF and is receiving about $1900 a month stipend while in his residency along with a $45k annual payment. So in addition to his residency salary he is getting another $60k from the Air Force. According to what I have understood, the service commitment is one year for each year you take plus one year.

Meaning:

If you took the $60k during residency for 2 years then you owe them 3 years and during those three years you are paid as a captain ~$100k.

Benefits:

- Wonderful Training and Experience in the Military

- Excellent Benefits

- Sense of serving your country

- Housing taken care of

Negatives:

- Compensation is obviously not as good in the military then in the civilian world.

I am about to enter my second year of residency training and am intrigued, any advice would be appreciated.

[Snake]

Pros.

Good training.

Get to see new places.

Get Air Force Retirement.

Cons.

You will have to see some bad stuff.

You will not see any of your friends for along time.

You could face stop loss if they need you badly.

Or thats the way I see it.

[Kurb]

Pro: You won't be able to post here as much.

I say go for it.

[The Saltman]

lol

[Scrumtrilescent]

Pros: Pretty sure flight surgeons don't have to deal with malpractice premiums the way civilian doctors do. But I only went to those meetings for the free lunch and didn't really pay much attention.

[Jase]

I wouldn't do it, if for no other reason than constant travel. You'll be here bidet, gone tomorrow.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, housing is not always taken care of. For senior ranks, the sometimes pay you an allowance that might cover all your cost, or it might now. You can live in officers qtrs, if they are available. And not all billets travel constantly. Some do, some don't. You might have to spend several years in Alaska, or several years in Hawaii.

[Hawk]

you're only young once...do it

[Epistaxis]

I would recommend it if you

1) Need the money

2) Have a desire to serve

If not, you can get a deal from the government if you take one of those underserved area thingys. You gotta do some time in like central Florida or Arkansas or New Mexico or whatnot, still make REALLY good money, and get some of your expenses taken care of.

It is like a 2-3 year gig and then you can bolt. Same idea, civilian style.

You don't strike me as the type that needs the dough, so unless you really want to serve, I would not recommend it.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Air Force would be the one to hit up, if you're gonna do it.

Probably look good on a resume too.