Air Force medic vs Navy Medic?

How about the Coast Guard. I have a friend in for a year or two more and is HS3....looking to get into PA program. Also he's thinking about going higher to HS2 or 1. Has to decide to re-sign another 4 years for PA school. What are the equivalents in civilian healthcare re: HS3's, 2's and 1's? Anyone have a clue?

Hi,

As a former HM2, have to say the Hospital Corps School in Great Lakes was excellent. Not sure how much it's changed over the years, but we went for 4 months. Doesn't sound like a lot of time, but when you're in class full-time, 5 days a week and live practically on top of the school (couldn't live off base)- the whole 4 months was constant classwork, clinicals and studying - really in-depth program. Just a walk down memory lane for any old Corpsman like me that spent time there. I was there during the winter - what a place, never less than 10 feet of snow on the ground. Only fun we had was trudging through the snow to the bowling alley on the weekends to hang out, ""study"" and drink 3/2 beer. Stupid question, maybe another older Navy Vet on here might know - I've always wondered, what the heck is 3/2 beer? They used to serve it at all the bases and I remember being forced to drink a lot of it against my will, hee, hee. They used to say it was just watered down stuff, but never knew for sure what the heck we were drinking.

When I was working as a Corpsman, with the exception of passing Meds, we basically did the job of a Nurse. One ER on a Sub-Base I worked in had 1 Nurse, 1 Doc and about 10 Corpsman, so we were triaging, suturing patients, starting IV's, etc. They trained us to do basically everything in case we were sent somewhere without any help. Not sure if they still have it, but a lot of my male classmates that were heading out with the Marines went on to FMS school in CA - tons more training.

Despite all the training, if you get out as a Basic Corpsman - the Civilian world considers you a glorified CNA or Med-Tech. If you go into a Specialty you're much more likely to transfer that job into a civilian one. My husband lucked up and was one of the very few Navy Corpsman (back then) that qualified for Respiratory Therapy School run by the Army at Ft. Sam Houston. He's been a Peri-Natal RT for 25 years, so the Old Navy definitely gave him a good career start. I was in during the horrible "VEAP" years, no money for college when I got out after 6 years on active duty. Took me years to afford to go back to school and get my RN - Zero help from the Navy, so I really envy everyone lucky enough to get the new GI Education Bill...

Hi all I really need some information, you all seem to be a wealth of knowledge and I could use some expert opinions. I have a younger brother in his 3rd year at University, he was considering going to Med School, but we have been looking at the grimm reality of the cost of doing so, loans etc... so sure enough I got a packet in the mail from the NAVY for the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) to join the Navy Medical Corps and become a Navy Medical Officer. Thats the situation, so my question is they have alot of perks and incentives that look very tempting as a different way for him to become a doctor over the traditional way of going to med school and racking up tons of debt. A brief list of perks is as follows:

NAVY Physician /vs. PRIVATE (Civilian Physician)
Tuition:Covered / $120,000

Cost to set up practice: Covered /$300,000

Annual operating costs: Covered /Extensive

Annual income: It just says
Competitive(whatever that means) /$40,000(Resident)/

Competitive/$140,000(Practicing)

So you can see why they have my interest, can anyone elaborate on this am I missing something is this really a great way to go, my only concern is if he did get accepted and put in this program after he graduates from the University, will he be put in combat situations or would he be working safely in some Navy hospital on a ship, or are we talking possibly him being sent across enemy lines. The marketing material looks great, NAVY put alot of effort into this brochure so I am weary of taking it with a grain of salt. I really need some input from anyone reading this who has gone through the program or knows someone who has and can give me a brief list of Positives and Negatives
I am grateful for any help on this.
Thank you all, Paul

Paul,

If your brother is serious about this, definitely try to find a military site on the net where you might talk to Navy Doc's. Better yet, call your nearest Naval Hospital, see if he can set up an appt. with one of their younger Doc's - just tell them you'd like to discuss the Navy Med. Corps with them, I'm sure they'll gladly talk to you.

As a Corpsman, I worked with tons of MD's. Some loved the Navy, made it their career, worked their way through the ranks, ended as Command Captains, etc. Most, just stayed in long enough to pay the Navy back for Medical School, then went into private practice. You don't pay it in money, it's paid with time served. Not sure what it is now, but I think they used to make them stay in about 6 years. Your Brother will get a fantastic Medical Education in the Navy, but since they spend a fortune to educate/train people, just trust me, they get out of you what they put in.

If anyone is contemplating joining the Military, don't ever assume you'll end up in some nice safe place. If there's a War, Doc's, Nurses, Corpsman go where the injured are to treat them - there's Navy hospitals all over the World, so no guarantee where you might end up. Whatever you decide, remember, verbal agreements are worth nothing in the military, you have to get everything promised to you in Writing... Hope this helps...

The job of a Navy Corpsman was a complete mystery to me when my son joined the Navy. I figured it was just an EMT type of position or a basic CNA. After completing his schooling at Great Lakes, I saw the material he studied and learned. The schooling is far more intense than any RN program in NY State. I remember after a 10 mile PT run he arrived back to be told they had mass casualties that needed immediate attention. This was basically a battlefield with dummies that breath/bleed etc..(closest thing to a human body you will find). The Corpsman had to evaluate each one and determine which could be saved then triage them and call in medivac. My son continued onto Dental assistant schooling after the basic corpsman school. He now administers shots, helps set broken bones, sutures wounds, works in an emergency dept as the medic on call for accidents, does rounds in the Navy Hospital, he has run anger management programs, and also helps in the dental clinic to assist in everything from teeth cleaning to orthodontics. He had to sign a 5 yr commitment to get this training. He loves his job and would like to continue after he serves his commitment. Under NY Law he is not qualified to perform any medical job without returning to school. I want to press our Governor and Senators to review all jobs performed in all branches of the military and give these young men and woman the state certification to work as a Dental Assistant, RN, or any other job that they have been performing. This is a viable workforce that is being overlooked. Many of my friends are RN's and have commented that these corpsman are performing jobs that in the civilian world in many cases would only be performed by a Physicians Assistant or Dr. I see no need to make these men and woman return to 2 yrs of college to learn English and History interspersed with medical knowledge they already have. When these young men and women are sent to war they are responsible for the welfare and lives of a platoon of marines. They carry each marines medical history and must make sure that their immunizations are up to date and are referred to as "Doc" by the marines. They are the only health care provider available to these marines. They are the first to treat critical wounds and are a marines lifeline. My point is I want everyone to write to your states Governor and Senators and implore them to change laws to help these men and women maintain the positions in civilian life that they have been doing in the military.

You make some very good points in your post, and I know from my experience as an Army Aviation Mechanic the frustration of not being "qualified" to perform the civilian equivalent of the job you have been doing for years.

Now I am just talking here, but this sounds a lot like the Pentagon's reasoning for not wanting higher GI Bill benefits... if they offered civilian certification for your job, then more people would get out of the military and take their training with them...
S

I found everyone's post to be very amusing. The bottom line is that every branch trains their medical eprsonnel to handle the mission that they will face. Navy Corpsman training closely mirrors Army medic training in that they have a ground force mission. The Air Force has a ground mission but they don't have to worry about sending their medics outside the wire unless they are Spec. Ops. or covering an EOD team. There are situations where Navy and Air Force personnel might find themselves in a remote environment where they must care for their comrades without the benefit of having a Doctor around. The AF and Navy indentified this requirement and developed schools to handle it. The Army has medics in the same situation. However, there isn't a service school to prepare the Army medic for indepedent duty. Army medics are taught the bulk of their advanced skills by the PA, Physicians, and medical NCOs in the units to which they are assigned. The results from this approach go from stellar to disatrous depending on the knowledge, teaching skill, and motivation of the Sr. medical personnel in a unit. The Army's basic medical course is trauma heavy (Amry medics are 68W and must be EMT-Basic at a minimum ro be a medic) and teaches the young medic everything they need to know to treat casualties on the battlefield. I have seen Army medics successfully treat casualties with multiple blast and gunshot wounds one month after completing their training. These soldiers performed like veterans even though they where faced with real world casualties on their first mission outside the wire. The funny thing is that you all seem to be done on Army medical training but Congress and DoD decided to send all Sailors, Airmen, and soldiers to Fort Sam Houston to train to become medics. Fort Sam Houston is the Home of the Army Medical Corps and the Army Medical Department Center & School. Most of the svhools at Sam are already Tri-Service to include the PA program (Coasties also attend this course). So by 2011 all medical personnel will be trained in one spot by NCOs from the three branches and all will meet the same standards. Even better news for future military medics is that the Air Force's standard of training call for college credit for the course during training. That will make easier for everyone to get their degree.

I can't comment on the training.

However, as a former Marine I can tell you that I hold the Navy corpsmen in the highest regard, much more so than the USAF medics. The reason has nothing to do with skill or training and everything to do with the cajones that it takes to be the guy with the medical kit and the responsibility to treat the fallen Marines. Enemy snipers place a high value on the corpsmen. Their Marines place an even higher value on them.

[quote=♪♫ in my ♥;2966602]

Hi, Thanks for the kind words. As a former female Navy Corpsman, I wasn't allowed out in the field, but I did spend most of my 6 years on active duty working with Marines. A couple of of those years were in SC treating sick Marine Recruits on Parris Island. When I was stationed in Norfolk, there was an entire barracks of Marines next to our 1 female barracks of Navy women. They were the nicest bunch of guys, they kept an eye out for us when we were coming back from duty late at night, we just always felt safe with them around. Just wanted to let you know the Corpsman appreciated the Marines always watching our backs.

I was an air force medic. The responsibilities were very close to a civilian RN. You get training for EMT and triage, first aid. I got training and did suturing, casting, injections, assisting in surgical procedures. blood draws,autoclaving instruments, packing surgical instruments. Vaccinations ,lots of nursing details. In fact our nurses on our base were basically hands off. They did QA and paperwork. Actually I did the paperwork, typed all the reports. I worked in an office for a time, scheduling appointments assisting docs etc.. I drove an ambulance and did ground transport of patients in Germany. Mass casualty exercises. It's super diverse depending on your base. Larger hospitals medics would act as a nurses aide capacity. One downfall is that your EMT training won't transfer over, at least in my case, I would have had to start all over again with approved courses for work for the fire department. Their loss LOL.. My favorite assignment was a small base, varied my job a lot more.
I got my RN, tried to go back in but I had just had a baby. Was over their weight restriction by 28 pounds. Still have them LOL!!