Originally Posted by Weebils-Wobble
I'm an Army medic.
The training of an Army PA is sought after because of its clinical rotations. Besides being free of debt you will gain some experience that civillian programs can't offer you.
There is no "front". Being in the military is hazardous no matter where you are. That is the point. As for the question about where the PA is; that is a matter of operational security and I doubt that you will know it until you need to know.
Speaking as prior military - you have to remember these folks are speaking civilianese, so I'd give them a bit more credit.
There IS a front line in Iraq. Trust me - I get reports from over there all the time. My husband will be more than happy to tell you there IS indeed a front.
Where PAs practice is NOT a matter of operational security. They don't want grid coordinates; the OP just wants to know what type of facilities they'd be in.
So I'll make the attempt to answer.
Tents in Iraq and Afghanistan, mostly. My father flew Medevac in Vietnam and Korea as a Navy corpsman so I would suppose that's a good possibility in Iraq and Afghanistan today. There are still several large military medical facilities - including hospitals (Wilford Hall in San Antonio at Lackland and the hospital at Ramstein Air Base come to mind) - where PAs are used. The guy I had as my PCP in OK was a PA. Many bases also still have base clinics (these ARE falling victim to BRAC closure, though, like the one at Altus did while I was there). You could be onboard ship if in the Navy or Marines.
And there aren't just PAs in the Army. They're in all the branches - AF, Navy/Marines, Army, and Coast Guard.
And I've been plenty of places in the military that weren't hazardous. (I say that because I feel as though the responding poster above made it sound as though you have to be in full Kevlar and low-crawling while you're moseying on over to the base exchange at your base in, say, California.) Being in the military gives you the POTENTIAL for being deployed to somewhere dangerous in a war zone - at any given time. Especially now. You HAVE to keep that in mind before you sign on the dotted line.
When I was in, entrance into these programs - both ROTC and the service-run school (yes, there's a military PA program; trust me - I looked into it when I was in) - was VERY competitive. But by all means, don't let that stop you. PAs are generally officers, so I would call up a ROTC detachment in your area or at a university with a PA program you're interested in and ask them about health professions scholarships. Local recruiters are generally looking for enlisted bodies and may or may not know a lot about commissioning opportunities.
Anyway, maybe that will help. Good luck!
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