The_Great_Zamboni
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Here's a little background: I was recently accepted to 2 medical schools. One I enjoyed more than the other, is more prestigious and has a better location, but far more expensive. I put together a spreadsheet and found I would have to go significantly into debt in order to attend my preferred school (about $200K, and that's with my girlfriend working), while for the other school my debt would be really quite low. Since ID isn't the highest paying specialty, we were anxious about racking up so much debt only to go to 6 years of residency and fellowship, especially if we want to start a family at some point.
As we were talking about the options, I mentioned the HPSP program and she had me look more into it more. In terms of finances, it makes a lot of sense, especially because it seems that the pay gap between the military and private practice isn't as big for ID (I found numbers like $190K vs $130 for starting ID physicians, let me know if those are wrong!). I've also heard, anecdotally, that ID in the military (particularly the navy) can lead to some very interesting work, so I could enjoy working in the military more than the private sector, and that's actually one of the things that excites me (I could be totally off base about that, please let me know if I am!).
My main worry is that my options for residency/fellowship would be delayed or even blocked. I've always heard that if the military doesn't need your specialty, you'll either end up in another field, or having to delay a year or two in order to reapply. Since IM is a pretty big field and not super competitive, I figure I would be able to get into a residency without too much trouble (please let me know if I'm off about that!) but I can't find very much data about how competitive the infectious disease fellowships are for each branch. It seems like it should be a field which would have a pretty large and constant need in the military, and I found one article that mentioned offhand that "58 applicants applied to 52 spots for ID for the military."
I also found out about FAP, which has the advantage that I'd already be in a residency when I applied. However, the problem there was that I still don't know if I would be able to go to fellowship after that, or if my commitment would be required before I could start the fellowship. It seems again that it all hinges on whether or not they need ID at the time. Is ID pretty "in demand" in the military?
Obviously I don't know if I'm 100% set on ID since I'm not even in medical school yet, but I really do think that's the field I'll be headed into. I am keeping in mind that if end up wanting to do something else it could change pretty much everything that I just said.
Thanks for you help guys!
tl;dr:
1) Is IM competitive/in demand in the military (especially navy), and could I enter my residency without having to reapply?
2) Is ID competetive/in demand in the milirary (especially navy), and could I enter a fellowship immediately after residency?
3) Would FAP make it harder to get into an ID fellowship?
4) Is ID really even more interesting in the navy? Is it about the same? Not as interesting? Anybody with experience, I'd love to hear it!
5) And if you know, where do ID physicians in the military get posted? Is it usually just the big medical centers, or do most hospitals in the military have an ID physician?
Thanks again for your help!! Stay safe out there!!
As we were talking about the options, I mentioned the HPSP program and she had me look more into it more. In terms of finances, it makes a lot of sense, especially because it seems that the pay gap between the military and private practice isn't as big for ID (I found numbers like $190K vs $130 for starting ID physicians, let me know if those are wrong!). I've also heard, anecdotally, that ID in the military (particularly the navy) can lead to some very interesting work, so I could enjoy working in the military more than the private sector, and that's actually one of the things that excites me (I could be totally off base about that, please let me know if I am!).
My main worry is that my options for residency/fellowship would be delayed or even blocked. I've always heard that if the military doesn't need your specialty, you'll either end up in another field, or having to delay a year or two in order to reapply. Since IM is a pretty big field and not super competitive, I figure I would be able to get into a residency without too much trouble (please let me know if I'm off about that!) but I can't find very much data about how competitive the infectious disease fellowships are for each branch. It seems like it should be a field which would have a pretty large and constant need in the military, and I found one article that mentioned offhand that "58 applicants applied to 52 spots for ID for the military."
I also found out about FAP, which has the advantage that I'd already be in a residency when I applied. However, the problem there was that I still don't know if I would be able to go to fellowship after that, or if my commitment would be required before I could start the fellowship. It seems again that it all hinges on whether or not they need ID at the time. Is ID pretty "in demand" in the military?
Obviously I don't know if I'm 100% set on ID since I'm not even in medical school yet, but I really do think that's the field I'll be headed into. I am keeping in mind that if end up wanting to do something else it could change pretty much everything that I just said.
Thanks for you help guys!
tl;dr:
1) Is IM competitive/in demand in the military (especially navy), and could I enter my residency without having to reapply?
2) Is ID competetive/in demand in the milirary (especially navy), and could I enter a fellowship immediately after residency?
3) Would FAP make it harder to get into an ID fellowship?
4) Is ID really even more interesting in the navy? Is it about the same? Not as interesting? Anybody with experience, I'd love to hear it!
5) And if you know, where do ID physicians in the military get posted? Is it usually just the big medical centers, or do most hospitals in the military have an ID physician?
Thanks again for your help!! Stay safe out there!!