I ask because during my time in the service (USN) I was always struck by how competent and capable most of the Navy Medical Corpsmen seemed. I imagine that much of medicine involves “on the job training”-which these guys get a lot of.
I would also imagine that people who have gone through this would know much more than the average medical school student…but age might be against them (probably most medics are in their mid-20’s when they leave the service).
Could this be the solution to the shortage of primary care physicians? Navy pharmacist mates have performed operations, delivered babies, and provided excellent care-why not recruit these guys to staff neighborhood clinics?
Face it, not many MDs wnt to do primary care.
I see a lot of ex-medics in the pre-nursing programs at the college at which I teach. Nursing allows them to carry on in the medical field, but requires much less time and academic commitment than pursuing an MD would. Many of teh medics are more hands-on oriented and want to be on the front line of patient care, which nursing often provides more opportunity to do.
Well, I don’t know what kind of training they get. There’s been talk of expanding RN and PA privileges to allow them to essentially become PCPs. Integrating ex-medics into the healthcare system could be *part *of the solution, but the fact of the matter is that cognitive/non-procedural visits to a doctor need higher reimbursements. There are currently loan forgiveness programs in place for rural/underserved primary care docs. Salarying them might be a good idea, too.
The military medics are the reason the physician assistant degree came into being: Physician assistant - Wikipedia
Mid-20s is not old to be going into med school. A guy in my med school class was in his 50s when we started. Nowadays a lot of people are changing careers to go to med school.
I have to say that my personal view though is that for many older people with stable careers and good incomes med school really isn’t worth the hassle, degradation, stress, and sleep deprivation.
I have a boyfriend who is going into the army to become a PA. The reason he’s not going for a M.D. is this:
M.D.s take much longer to go through schooling before they go to work. After a four year stint in the army, you’re looking at not making much money until you are in your 30s. If you get the army to put you through med school, then you’re looking at a much longer commitment than getting the army to put you though compared to PA school. In six years, my boyfriend can be making good money as a PA. You can get rich quicker if you don’t bother with med school.
M.D.s often work very long hours and have lower patient interactions than many nurses and PAs. He’s drawn to helping individuals and he doesn’t want to have to pay a lot for insurance.
Alas, the same is true for PAs and Nurse Practitioners. More and more of them are choosing to work in sub-specialties and other areas for higher pay and better hours. It’s the same dilemma for them as MD’s have.
I used to go to a PA who had been a medic in the military. He was very, very good, too, very gentle.
I’ve known at least two SEALs who became paramedics after their 30 year mark-one was a dive medic, then worked on the teams, then retired and worked as a paramedic for some time.
The other picked up shifts with a local ambulance crew while he was studying for his EMT-P (unrelated to his navy job), and ended up working as a full-fledged paramedic for a time after he retired.
Both were pretty hard guys, but I was pretty surprised at how much they were willing to give, especially the latter dude, while on the job.
My doctor used to be a flight surgeon in the US Air Force though he is an Aussie. I think it was part of an exchange program with the RAAF.